Separation
by dragontank1414
Summary: Following Summer's disappearance, Taiyang sends Ruby to live with her uncle, and moves away with Yang. The two have no knowledge of each other, and train in different schools, but fate will bring them together
1. Seperate Beginnings

Two sisters, split when one was too young to speak, and one was too young to remember, would soon be destined for an encounter at the precipice of war and total annihilation. Yang would grow up to live with her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, who helped her develop her skills and train for her entrance into Haven Academy after they had moved to Mistral. Ruby grew up with her eccentric uncle, who took her in following his sister's disappearance, as a favor to Taiyang, and he had hoped the best for her, as she had been asked by Ozpin himself to join Beacon after her scuffle with Roman. Taiyang had seen Ruby on very few occasions, and generally kept his distance. She looked so much like her mother did. It was almost painful to see her. He wasn't sure what kept him from her. Like some divine force that kept him from bringing himself to meet her in person. He felt like his fragile existence, or even hers, could crumble if they were to meet. So he kept his distance. Maybe someday, he thought to himself, I can tell her the truth.

Ruby looks up at the grand castle that is Beacon, clutching her folded Sniper Rifle Scythe. Swooning slightly at the sight of the school she nearly bumped into a couple people and then was pushed aside by Cardin, who barely noticed her. She is caught, arms flailing, at the last second by a tall and slender black haired girl in a yellow battledress with three orange stripes down the front, black shoulder guards, orange fingerless gloves and black combat boots. She has a sword on her left hip and a large handgun on her right hip. She helps Ruby back to her feet "This place is something else isn't it?"

Ruby nods and extends a hand "I'm Ruby."

"Yolanda" The two shake hands and Ruby smiles.

"Well I best be going then" When Ruby turned around, she had the misfortune of stumbling into the heiress, Weiss Schnee. Spreading dust everywhere, Ruby sneezed fire and ruined the dress of the heiress.

Weiss stomps "How could you do this you dolt! You could of blow up the whole building! This is dust, have you any idea in your simple mind what damage you could of caused?" One of the vials rolled to a stop in front of the mysterious girl with the black bow and black outfit, reading a book quietly.

She walks over as Ruby hollers out at Weiss "Well I'm sorry, princess!"

Blake interupts "It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, right?"

Weiss folds her arms "Someone who knows me, finally." As the two seem to get into a short dispute Yolanda drags Ruby off to the side.

"You have got to be more careful kiddo. You look a little young to be at Beacon. Ozpin must have made a special exception for you."

Ruby blushes and looks away "I'm not really that special to be honest."

Yolanda laughs "Ha, everyone is special in their own way."

As the two walked together Ruby recounted her battle with Roman "And that's when Glenda showed up."

Yolanda smiles "You are skilled indeed. Hopefully we get the chance to spar some time."

Ruby giggles "What kind of weapon is that?"

Yolanda pulls out her high caliber pistol. "Multicaliber, revolver style high impact dust hand cannon. A M.O.R.S.E. pistol"

"Morse?"

"Most overpowered, really showy and eccentric pistol. My dad invented it and carries one similar, but mine is custom made to match my semblance. As is my sword." Ruby allows Crescent Rose to extend to its full length.

"This is Crescent Rose, my High Caliber Sniper Rifle Scythe. Made it myself."

Yolanda puts her hands on her hips "Your weapon dwarfs you and even me in size."

Ruby scrunches her nose "I'm not that short." Yolanda smiles and Ruby folds Crescent Rose away "Who is your father?"

"You might know him. Man by the name of James Ironwood."

"THE General James Ironwood?! Why are you here instead of at Atlas Academy?"

"Well, I got a lot of pull with my dad and he pretty much will let me do what I want. Well, anything legal of course. I said I wanted to go to Beacon, and he talked to Ozpin. Just like that."

Yang looked across the field of grass at the impressive dark blue and white castle that was Haven Academy. It was great to see familiar faces, friends from her time at Sanctum Academy. Yang walked amongst those in the crowd and waved at people she knew. Urania runs up next to her, Yang's Rabbit-Faunus friend from Sanctum. "Hey Yang, do you think we might end up in a squad together? Oh that will be so much fun! Remember the tournaments at our old school and how we kicked butt together?" Yang smirks as she remembers Neros and their last fight together near the end of the school year. Poor guy never stood a chance but he was so persistent in challenging Yang.

"Remember Neros? I loved his plucky, stick-to-ittiveness. He was determined he was going to put me down in the dirt every time there was an open sparring challenge."

Urania nods "Isn't he kinda cool though? Maybe a bit full of himself but at least he wasn't totally in your face about it."

Yang shrugs "He's a cut above the rest"

"Ha, because he has a sword." Yang giggles "Yes, Urania, because he has a sword. At least someone appreciates my punny humor."

Haven's headmistress, a woman in a black dress and red scarf stands atop a balcony overlooking the large group of new students "Welcome to Vale, I am retired military Lieutenant Crowe. I will be your headmistress, and along with the teaching staff I will help guide you down the road to your destiny as hunters and huntresses. The first step is to assign you to teams. By gathering information from your exams and your time at your respective former training academies we will select leaders and groups based on a ranking system. Those with strong auras, believed to be adept or higher fighters will be assigned as team leaders to a squadron of less developed fighters. The leader will act as a mentor, protector, voice of authority not to overrule mine of course, and overall role model. Before deciding on these teams with finality, we will be holding matches between the students to better concrete our decisions, like a final exam. This tournament exam will be held tomorrow, with predetermined partners squaring off against other pairs."

Yang smiled over at Urania "I'm so happy we got paired together." Urania draws her staff and smiles "Me too." She wears her usual battle clothing, a light blue and white corset style top that showed off most of her midriff and a little cleavage and a pair of tight black pants with black boots. The two walk out into the arena, and Yang laughs and puts her hands on her hips, seeing Neros opposite her, in his white military style battle armor and holding his single edged two handed sword. His partner, a woman Yang did not recognize, wore an unflattering set of combat armor, which starkly contrasted her beautiful, soft facial features. Her weapon of choice appeared to be a sword with a large sheath that looked like an assault rifle..

"Yang. Good to see you made it to the upper class school. I was worried there would only be me at the top."

Yang folds her arms "Sorry Neros I reserved upper class when I got here. I guess you missed the memo." The two pairs walk closer to each other and Crowe looks down upon the arena from her box.

She nods to the two teams "You may begin when you are ready." Yang's Ember Celica fully extended and she rushes in at Neros but she is interrupted by a slash from mystery girl's sword. She stops it with her gauntlet.

"What's your name my sword wielding friend?" She tries for a few more slashes, all blocked or avoided by Yang.

"Its Genivieve. Nice to meet you." Neros leaps over Genivieve in an attempt to hit Yang but is hit by Urania's flying kick, he flips and lands on his feet, and dodges her fire blast from her staff. Urania deftly blocks Genevieve's sword attack from behind by spinning her staff behind her and uses this spinning momentum to smack aside Neros' sword attack aside as well, slamming it down and causing lightning to lash out and push back both fighters from her. Neros slides back and drops to one knee, then he stands and swings his sword in a uppercut slash, which creates an energy beam that slashes forward at Urania, hitting her and dealing enough damage to her aura that she is pulled from the fight.

Yang slams both fists together and her hair turns gold, flaring up a little as it goes. She blasts back Genivieve, then hits her with a rapid series of shotgun blasts before finishing her with an uppercut, eliminating her from the fight. She catches Neros' sword mid overhead strike and kicks him back before firing off a series of shotgun blasts which he deflects with his sword. She rushes right at him and he swings his sword, a slash of energy flies right at Yang and she narrowly dodges the attack, then she watches as his sword folds down into a one handed longsword. She blocks his slash attempts with his sword and narrowly avoids another energy beam which cuts through a wall of the arena. She hits him with another shotgun blast but he deflects two more of them, before she leaps in the air and slams her fist down, causing a quake that knocks him down and Crowe calls the match "And the winner is the team of Urania and Yang."

"So, this landing strategy thing, will you be dropping us off or something?" Ozpin looks calmly at Jaune "No. You will be falling."

"Oh, I see. So, uh, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Yolanda did not catch the last part of this conversation as she was launched into the air. Her sword transforms into a short scythe and she uses the curvature of the weapon to catch onto a tree and kill her momentum, then she allowed herself to drop to the ground 30 feet below where she landed on the forest floor harmlessly. Her sword returns to normal and she holds it in her left hand, drawing her pistol with her right. Set to its .50 caliber setting, she sets out deeper in the forest when she hears sounds of fighting ahead. Leaping in the air she springboards off the side of a tree and fires 2 shots from her pistol and kills two Ursa grimm, landing on the third with her sword through its back. It crumples to the ground and she comes face to face with Blake, who has already slain 2 grimm herself and has Gambol Shroud at the ready.

She relaxes slightly "Partners?" Yolanda hops down next to her "Partners."

Once at the temple, Yolanda sees Ruby "Hey buddy, who did you get…" She sees the huffy and indignant Weiss and Ruby hangs her head, making Yolanda laugh.

"Of all the rotten luck!" Weiss stomps her foot "I know, right?!"

"Actually I was talking to Ruby." Weiss puts a hand over her chest and huffs indignantly. Blake pays little attention to this exchange, walking over to the relics that Ozpin mentioned.

"Fascinating. They are just chess pieces. Yolanda, which piece should I grab?" Yolanda tilts her head "Hm, with its unique movement style, I always preferred the knight."

"Knight it is." "Ruby smiles "I picked the horsey too." Nora rides in on the back of an Ursa and Ren leaps down from the trees, and Nora marvels the chess pieces.

"Ooo I want this one!" She picks up the queen "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" Nora bounces for joy as Jaune and Pyrrha run out of the woods, followed by a deathstalker. Yolanda pulls out her pistol and takes a couple shots at the deathstalker, as does Ruby and Blake, but the bullets prove ineffective against its armor. Yolanda manages to shoot it in one of its eyes and it thrashes, knocking Jaune aside and Pyrrha turns to it, blocking its claw slash by bashing its claw away with her shield. Ruby rushes forward and narrowly avoids its tail strike, but is unable to avoid its backhand swipe with its claw. Yolanda dodges out of the way of a swooping nevermore and fires a couple rounds into the massive flying beast, seeming to only irritate it. She flips a switch on her gun and the chamber drops out, the gun begins to morph to sport a longer barrel and she slides in a new chamber housing 12 .357 magnum rounds. As it swoops back around she fires 3 shots and each shot explodes on impact, making the bird fly back up to avoid being shot. As Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora tangled with the deathstalker, Yolanda ran over to Ruby, helping her to her feet.

"You okay Ruby?" She nods "I'm fine. The finish line is close. We just need to survive this fight." Blake runs over "Whenever you are ready."

Yolanda runs towards the temple, across the crumbling bridge, just as the Nevermore swoops down and knocks out the bridge. Yolanda's sword breaks into several pieces, all connected by a flexible cable at its core, and she leaps into the gap. Her sword wraps around one of the pillars supporting the other side of the bridge, and she swings herself up high and lands on the other side. Once there Ruby points to several of the pillars surrounding what appeared to be a courtyard.

"We need to take the high ground!" The future team RWBY stands atop the pillars, and when it is close enough, Yolanda leaps in the air and tries to cleave its head in two. It pulls up but not enough to avoid having its underside slashed. Her sword transforms to its whip form and she grapples its foot, firing at it. Below, Ruby and Weiss seem to be forming a plan, and Yolanda's eyes follow the trail of glyphs. She shoots the nevermore in the head, dazing it and setting it on a crash course for the place the glyphs ended. Yolanda drops to the ground effortlessly and Ruby runs the glyphs at an insane speed, her scythe grabbing the nevermore by the throat and dragging it up the cliff side until she separated its head from its body.

Team coronation day. Team RWBY and Team YUNG did not yet know it but their destinies were closely woven. The Vytal festival in Vale would be the point in which everything would change.. YUNG and RWBY would train whenever possible, and as the bond between the team began to grow so did their strength. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yolanda Ironwood. Yang Xiao Long. Urania Azurite. Neros Blanc. Genivieve Helios. The future champions of this world.


	2. Becoming a Team

Yang fires both her gauntlets behind her and launches herself up and over the Ursa grim, distracting it long enough for Neros to bring his sword down and cleave its head in two. She fires her shots in rapid succession from the air, raining shrapnel upon the group of grimm and keeping herself aloft. As a nevermore flew in too close Genivieve fires at it with her laser rifle, the energy beams hit the nevermore and throw it off course. Yang lands and rolls under an Ursa, popping up under it with an uppercut punch that sends it flying. When Urania's staff hits the ground, cracks appear and fire rises from these cracks. Upon Yang punching the ground, the earth splits from these cracks and creates flaming fissures and rising rubble which Yang punches at the group of beowolves closing in. With most of the Grimm taken care of, YUNG turns its attention to the circling nevermore. Genivieve fires lasers, specifically targeting its wings. Yang also hits it with several long ranged shotgun blasts. Genivieve takes a deep breath and everything slows for her as the beast swoops down towards her. She sidesteps it, slashes its head off and leaps up to avoid its wings as the body slides across the ground then slides to a stop.

Back at Haven, Yang turns to her team. "Alright Team Yang-" Neros interjects "YUNG"

"Yep that. Alright Team YUNG, awesome work today. Saved a small village in the north sector from tyranny, got some great teamwork flowin' here, I think I'm really starting to get the Yang of this leadership thing. Hm?" Urania giggles, Neros slaps his forehead and Genivieve smiles, more in a polite manner than an amused one. Neros throws a dirty sock at her and she dodges it "Keep your sweaty socks away from me buddy boy."

Urania stiffens and she turns to the door "Someone is coming." Yang tilts her head "How can you do that?"

She shrugs "My semblance allows me to sense people, grimm, and I have total awareness of their movements." There is a knock at the door and Yang answers it, and sees the leader of team ABRN, Arslan Altan. Yang smiles in her nightwear, a yellow tank with a fire emblem on it and black shorts. Urania hides herself due to only wearing a blue spaghetti strap top and short shorts. Neros lounges around in his white tank and black shorts, and Genivieve seems disinterested and lays on her bed in her black The Achieve Men boyband shirt and her blue sweatpants.

Arslan looks around the room "Hello ladies and gentlemen. I heard of your success at the southern sector grimm roundup."

"Northern sector." She shrugs "Right. Anyway, I hear that my team will be sent to the east sector in three weeks. And we were told we could take an extra team with us. Our team is mostly quick strikers, recon and all that. You guys are mostly heavy hitters. Looks like a tough sector though. Lots of grimm. Think you are up for it?" Yang looks back at her team and Neros nods in approval, as does Genivieve.

Yang grins "Alright Arslan, it'll be fun working with you." They shake hands.

Yolanda lounged around in her orange halter top and white baggy pants. Being used to living mostly alone, she was used to wearing whatever was comfortable and not restricting. Ruby smiles at her in her nightwear "Man it feels so good to kick back and relax after another hard day of training."

"You and Weiss seem to be functioning on the same level."

"We all are. Growing as people together. Getting stronger and learning to work together. It's the best part of being a team." She sighs and lies back as Yolanda nods "And best of all, we have an awesome leader."

Ruby turns her namesake shade of red, giggling "I am pretty awesome at it aren't I?" Weiss snorts, standing in the doorway "Quite full of ourselves, are we?"

"Actually Weiss, I'm mostly full of turkey from tonight's feast." (Yang felt a sudden disturbance in the force) Blake interjected from her corner where she was reading, much to everyone's surprise.

"Weiss, you have to admit she is a great leader." Ruby almost falls out of bed "When did you get in here Blake?! I couldn't even hear you breathing!" Blake uses her book to cover her embarrassed face.

"I've been reading by the moonlight since before you two got in here. I didn't eat much at dinner." Ruby smiles "Alright team, time for bed." Yolanda leaps up onto her top bunk and it collapses on top of Ruby's but not before Blake used her arm ribbon to yank Ruby out of the way. Ruby falls to the floor and Yolanda collapses next to her, the impact of her bed falling making her bounce off her mattress. Ruby rubs her head "Bunk beds were not the best idea."

"Well I'm bigger maybe I just need a bottom bunk."

As Blake ran away into the night, leaving Ruby yelling after her, Yolanda watched from afar as she removed her ribbon. She had her arms folded as she mulled in her head what Blake said "Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake is or was with the White Fang. Her father lost a lot of good men to the White Fang, and she nearly lost her brother to them as well. He would never be able to fight again after they severed his spine following a brutal beating. Left him to bleed out, like the animals they were. No compassion, no mercy, this was what she had come to expect from them. Yolanda leaps out of the window and she tracked Blake from a far distance. Using her versatile semblance to track the Faunus, she followed her into town, but before approaching her she decided to instead observe her movements for a while. The next morning she heard Blake's story as she had breakfast tea with Sun. She was glad she had. She knew it must have been hard for Blake to have her optimism be crushed as the people she once knew became crazed criminals. She thought about going back to Beacon to find her teammates, but didn't want to risk losing Blake and not being able to track her. While her Evolution semblance made tracking easy it had its limits. So she quietly followed Blake as her and Sun went towards the docks.

Thankfully, Yolanda didn't need much sleep. Training alongside her father not just in combat but in survival made her efficient at anything she did. Blake watched the docks with Sun and jumped to her feet upon seeing the choppers landing. Yolanda saw Roman and drew her pistol. Upon joining it with her sword it forms a rifle with her sword grip folded inward to form a stock and the sword end forms a bayonet, she puts a scope on it and the barrel lengthens to form a .50 cal sniper rifle. Yolanda lines up her shot but by that time Blake has taken Roman hostage. She watches the reaction of the soldiers as Blake throws aside her black ribbon to reveal her purple and black cat faunus ears. Yolanda watches as Roman knocks her back but Sun gets in the way, interrupting her shot again.

Frustrated, Yolanda exchanges out her chamber and instead of revolver rounds she puts in a new chamber and a clip of 9mm. She runs in and opens fire, Roman dodges and rolls out of the way of the full auto fire and Sun is nearly hit "Hey watch it! Friendlies!" Yolanda seperates gun and sword, using her sword to deflect Roman's cane, and leaving him open for a point blank shot. He manages to dodge nonetheless and smacks Yolanda over the head.

"Imputence. Shouldn't you be hiding behind daddy's army?" Blake rushes at Roman and tries to overwhelm him by quickly moving around him, using her shadows to avoid his attacks. But Roman is very fast and skilled, managing to land a few blows on Blake before getting kicked hard by Sun. Even Sun's lightning quick nunchuck flint pistol style is no match for Roman and his simple yet flowing cane technique. Roman narrowly avoids a shot from Yolanda's rifle but it explodes behind him, knocking Roman into Sun who trips him. Sun gives Yolanda a thumbs up and Yolanda seperates gun and sword. They all turn to see Penny, who entered the field of combat, using her swords to easily cut her way through the White Fang thugs. As Penny blasted the choppers out of the sky, Yolanda lost track of Roman. Pulling down a ship that was pulling a shipping container, Penny had the attention of everyone.

"Kids keep getting weirder!" Roman escaped with the few choppers left in his fleet.

Everything was quiet, and Yang was happy for once to be on a quiet mission with no complications. Not that the thrill of the fight wore off, but mostly because grimm didn't provide much challenge anymore and she felt the more time she spent here, the more time she could be spending looking for her mother. Now that she stopped to think, she really wanted a fight. Something, anything to punch. Team ABRN secured a base camp alongside the beastiary instructor, retired Sargent Herrara. He was quite the interesting guy. Short in stature but stacked like bricks, with a Lever Action Sword Rifle. With his strength, he could slice through anything with his sword. Urania pulls out her staff "There is a nearby pack. If my guess is right, they will pass through the base camp." Yang nods, putting a finger to her lips to signal for quiet, then she points to Genivieve, then the roofs of the ruins, then to Neros, pointing him to go straight ahead, then points to Urania, clenching her fist.

Neros smirks "The hell are you doing? They are far enough away you can talk." Yang folds her arms "Excuse me for trying to be more authentic and enthusiastic in taking up my leaderly-" Urania puts a hand to Yang's mouth and pushes her into the shadows, Genivieve and Neros ducked into cover as well as a nevermore passes overhead.

"Yang's right. We do this quiet and by her order." Suddenly Arslan yells out "We have grimm! Team YUNG, support!" Urania slaps her forehead.

"Idiot is going to attract all of the grimm!" Yang nods "Genivieve, Urania, take the high ground. Neros I need you to use Genevieve's cover fire to flank the horde while I support Team ABRN. You three try to figure out a way to slow down any more of the horde the fighting may attract!"

Yang hurried to the base and she saw Arslan knocking the grimm around like toy dolls, Reese Chloris using her hoverboard fighting technique to fight through the crowd, disorienting the larger grimm and decimating the smaller Beowolves. She leaps over an Ursa, her hoverboard flying under it and slicing its legs, and as she lands her hoverboard becomes two machine pistols. Rolling to her feet she fires into the crowd in every direction. Bolin uses his staff to rapidly strike an Ursa, hitting it from nearly every direction faster than it can keep pace. Nadir provides fire support from within the building. Arslan seems to sigh with relief as she hears the familiar sound of shotgun fire, as Yang leaps in the air and rains fire down upon the large advancing group of grimm. Yang runs to join the front line "Where is the rest of your team?"

"Flanking. Don't worry, we got this." Sarge runs over to Yang "Where-"

"Rooftops, they are going around the back of the group, going to try and block their path."

"Brilliant. I will join them." Yang nods as he hurries off, helping Arslan to fight off the Ursa and Boarbatusks as they came.

"Reese is thinning out the weak and causing confusion but her Aura is dropping. I need you to get in there and get her out." Yang nods and leaps up in the air, slamming her fist down on the head of an Ursa then firing off him, launching herself above the crowd. She fires behind her and kicks a Boarbatusk into a wall, deflecting a swipe from an Ursa with her left gauntlet and knocking it back from her with her right. Fireballs rain down upon the rear flank and amongst the many smells of battle came the smell of the burning grimm. Not pleasant.

Yang relaxed, amidst the fight, allowing her punching to fall into a quick rhythm. It was Crowe who taught her that she could channel her semblance while maintaining complete control and rhythm. An uppercut and three rapid strikes to the chest of an Ursa sends it into two more, then a rapid left followed by a heavy right. Gryphon grimm fly overhead, and Yang leaps onto a decayed streetlamp, firing into the crowd of them, downing a few and Genivieve kills the rest. A boarbatusk hits the lamppost, knocking her off balance as it falls over but she back flips and lands on her feet easily, firing behind her and right back into the crowd. Arslan jumps in right next to her and the two fight back to back.

"You took all the attention and I started getting bored."

"With this hair and bod I tend to draw a lot of attention to myself."

"You seem too top heavy to be an effective fighter." Yang misses a beat and is almost bulldozed by a Borbatusk, but she stops its spinning attack by grabbing it by the horns mid-rotation and then throwing it. "Jealously is not a pretty shade on you."

"Ohh my and here I was told you were sensitive to that kind of thing."

"Banter in the middle of combat could get someone killed." A nevermore flies overhead and its razor sharp, deadly feathers rain down upon the grimm and Yang alike. She tackles Arslan, covering her body but knows that her Aura can only withstand so much. Hopefully one of them gets out alive. Several impale the ground around them and Yang looks up to see Genivieve had deflected each feather from hitting them. "Nice job saving my butt."

"We need to do something about that bird." As it turns around for another pass Neros leaps off a roof and decapitates it, landing on the opposite roof.


	3. Becoming Heros

Yang rarely visited Vale. She was excited to meet students from other schools. Urania was not. Neros was his usual indifferent self. Genivieve was surprisingly chipper.

"I know you must be as excited as I am guys! I love fighting new people!" Yang smiles "That's the spirit."

"I just feel like the more people I fight, the stronger I will become, and I will become the strongest out of everyone to rule them all!"

"Um, slow your role there Jeanie, you have to surpass me first." Genivieve looks and Yang "I can take you."

"Is that so?"

"Well, maybe. You kind of are the queen of punching. But I am quite the shot and you know it!" Sun smiles at the ladies as he passes, pointing to Urania and winking. She hides behind Yang, giving Yang the appearance of having short bunny ears. "I don't like new people, for obvious reasons and you know it Yang." Yang nods and turns to her, hugging her "Come on lets go get something to eat." Neros smirks "Our fearless leader had a good idea. And of course she must be paying." He runs off to avoid her chasing after him.

Yang hears a lot of arguing in an alleyway and peaks her head down it. There she sees a group of students pushing around a Rabbit-Faunus. Having a close relationship with Urania, who was still inside with the rest of the group eating, Yang decided to jump in and interfere. "Hey, you 4 need to get lost! Right now." She walks towards them authoritatively. One nudges the obvious leader of the group.

"Hey Cardin I think she's challenging us." Cardin cracks his knuckles "Don't let the little bunny scurry off. I've got this." Cardin swings at Yang with his fist but Yang is too fast for him, landing heavy body shots before punching him in the jaw. He kicks her in the leg and she drops to one knee, and he slugs her hard in the face a couple times. Then he grabs her by her hair and hauls her to her feet.

"Bad move big guy!" Her eyes turn red and she punches him in the face and knocks him back over his group of friends and into the street where he lands on the hood of a passing car. The car stops suddenly depositing him in a broken heap on the street. One of the boys turns his direction and is kicked in the groin with enough force to make him pass out from the pain by an extremely irate Coco Adel. The fashionista came at the sounds of a scuffle, and seeing the three boys holding Velvet Scarlatina, she decided their bullying would end today. She hits the other with her handbag, sending him flying and kicks the last one in the stomach then knees him in the face. She calmly walks to Scarlatina and puts an arm around her as Velvet whimpers softly "Time to get you home." She looks over at Yang "Thank you."

Yang gives her a thumbs up "Anytime. Now let's bounce before we get in any trouble. I'm sure fighting outside of school is frowned upon." Yang turns around and nearly runs into Sun, who hangs upside down from a fire escape "Defender of the innocent. Protector of the weak. Aid to all Faunus kind. And her name is…"

"Yang."

"Yang!" He throws up his arms, or rather throws them down from Yang's point of view. Yang pokes his nose "Did you need something or did you just come to congratulate me on my brilliant heroics?"

"Well, since you mentioned it, I could use one favor."

The large warehouse was in sight, but it seemed abandoned "You're sure this is some White Fang hideout? Looks completely abandoned." Sun nods "I tracked some stolen shipments here. Just trying to do my part. But I need heavy reinforcements if I'm going to make a bust." Yang turns to her other three team members. Urania was relaxed, eyes closed as she prepares herself for a possible fight. Neros, was being himself. And Genivieve was looking at the area through a pair of binoculars she carried around.

Urania tilts her head "I sense people inside. Faintly. I'm not certain if I am picking up on lingering signatures, or if I'm picking up a group. A very, very powerful person was here and they left behind a signal so strong its interfering with my semblance." Yang stands "Then we investigate on foot. Team YUNG, move out." They leap out of the trees and follow Yang towards the warehouse. Once inside, they see it is empty, with the exception of a few empty shipping containers.

Urania draws her staff "Nope. We are not alone." White Fang drop from the catwalk above them and surround them. About a dozen in total, these lackeys guarded the warehouse post-transfer. Yang and company get in a circle, back to back, preparing themselves for a fight. Soon, several more guards ran over to join their friends and the five watched their aggressors quietly as they slowly closed in. Yang was first to act, extending her Ember Celica and leaping at the nearest thug, blasting him back with a well-aimed punch. Sun leaps high and as he lands he kicks one aside and uses a broad sweeping motion with his staff to trip all of the thugs that had surrounded him, kicking one in the air and breaking his staff apart into its nun chuck form, blasting 3 thugs that drew too close and juggling the other in the air.

"Woohoo!" Urania easily knocks back two thugs, blasts another with a fireball and freezes 3 others up to their shoulders, Genivieve picking off two more and Neros kicked one so hard he bowled over 2 of his comrades. Those that could stand did so, only to once again be taken down. Urania walks to the goons she has trapped in ice "So, White Fang, what is it you are doing here in the middle of nowhere, in an empty factory, guarding it by the dozen?"

The man smirks "You're stupid if you think they tell us anything. We are just the muscle and they think we are too dumb to be a part of their master plan. I'll tell you what I do know though."

"And what is that?"

"You are all going to die once our masters get their hands on you." Urania kicks the man, shattering the ice and knocking him against the back wall.

Pyrrha effortlessly defeated every member of Cardin's team. Before Mercury's hand could go up in the air Yolanda stood "I would like to fight. If you don't mind." Glenda smiles and nods "Let me find you a partner." Emerald elbows Mercury and whispers "Idiot."

Mercury stands "I'll fight her." Glenda nods "Perfect. The two of you will make a good match." Yolanda hops down into the arena and Mercury watches her as he hops down "Yolanda Ironwood. I have heard a lot about you." She draws her pistol "Good things I hope?" Mercury nods and at the start of the match he rushes at her, leaping up and kicking her back with a blast from his foot. She rolls to her feet.

"Shotgun feet. Hmm." She fires at Mercury and her sword becomes a whip sword. When he tries to kick her again her sword wraps around his leg and she trips him and throws him across the arena. Her sword becomes a shield and he kicks off the ground, firing at her from his feet as he flew down at her. Despite her shield, she was knocked down by his dropkick. The shield protected her from the shotgun blasts but knocked her across the arena. Her shield falls apart and becomes a rapier sword. He quickly closes the distance and marvels at how easily she manages to keep up with him all of a sudden. Her semblance, he couldn't quite put a finger on it. She uses her sword to trip him but this time he lands on his hand and goes to kick her in the side of the head, which she blocks with her sword, shooting him point blank then kicking him away. Glenda walks in the middle of the arena "A fine display Miss Ironwood." Yolanda smirks "Always happy to stretch my legs." She helps Mercury stand who dusts himself off.

Yolanda stands outside the dorm of Cinder, Mercury and Emerald. She was there to congratulate Mercury on their great match when she heard interesting talking "And it's not clear what her power is but she seems to be able to adjust her abilities to match and overcome an opponent. She was even able to keep pace with me."

"Add her to the list. Now you were supposed to gather information on the Invincible Girl."

"Yolanda was to her feet before me." Emerald cuts in "We still have time to gather intel on the others." Mercury snorts "You should be able to take them no problem."

"It's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away what power they have." Yolanda narrows her eyes, thinking about what they said. Were they merely scouting for the Vytal festival? Why was there a list? Who was on this list? Was it a hit list? She contemplates barging in, but instead skulks away slowly. Once back in her dorm, Ruby instantly recognizes that something is up. "Hey, you okay?"

Yolanda nods a little "Yeah, I'm fine, just, you know, thinking about things." "Liike?"

"Like the dance. Do you have a date yet?" Ruby shakes her head "Nope."

"Did you plan on getting one?" "Nope."

"So you are staying home?" Ruby giggles "Nope."

"You're going alone?" Ruby shrugs "Well yeah. My whole team is going to be there, I should go."

Yolanda walked towards her father, embracing him "Hello father. It's great to see you." Ironwood puts his organic arm around her "Hello sweetheart, introduce me to your team."

"Dad this is Ruby, our leader, Blake and Weiss."

"Weiss Schnee?" Weiss curtsies "The one and only, sir." He smiles "It's great to see my darling Yolanda teaming with such a capable bunch. Ruby, was it?"

"Yes sir."

"You must be very strong and capable to be the team leader. I had expected for sure that Yolanda would be a team leader." She nudges him "Dad… stop."

"Well, I did. You are a natural born leader and tactician."

"Well I suppose the chips fall where they may and all things happen for a reason." Ironwood clears his throat "I have matters to attend to with my old friend Ozpin. You ladies have a good night." As he walks away Ruby smiles sheepishly "Well he seems nice."

"He is sensitive about the idea of me being in the military. You would think after all he has gone through he would actually want to dissuade me from joining up."

"That's why he wishes you were a leader."

"I regret nothing. I can act alone, but I prefer to follow another's command. My creativity cannot quite match yours Ruby." Ruby blushes "Aww shucks."

Blake had been driving herself wild in their search for the White Fang, and she was becoming very standoffish. Yolanda corners her just outside the library, holding out a hand "I'll carry some of those books for you." Blake nods and hands her a couple of the books. Yolanda looks at them "Hmm, history, and more history. Was Oobleck not boring enough for your tastes today?"

"I need them for research."

"Into the White Fang."

"Yes."

"I think you are grasping at straws. This won't help you any more than Jaune's sword would help you fight a Nevermore."

"I heard that! And I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm not sure where I'm going with this argument. Is Weiss with you?" came Jaune from down the hall. "No, she's probably in the dorm. And stop eavesdropping I'm trying to have a touching team moment."

"Then don't do it in the halls. They echo."

"Good point." Blake goes to grab her books but Yolanda keeps a firm grip on them "This talk is happening Belladona." She forces her into a room off to the side. "Now look, I get it. You want to track these thugs down. But you are running on zero rest. You need to take a break."

"Do you think Torchwick and the White Fang are going to take a vacation from their plan to take over or whatever it is they are plotting to do?! No!"

"Well at this pace you are going to kill yourself."

"I'm doing more than you are!"

"We should leave this to the proper authority."

"The proper authority failed!"

"The proper authority is my father! And every day he hears of yet another squad of men and women who were too young to die, fall at the hands of the radicals. He pushed for a synthetic military because he got emotionally drained from seeing every field report, where another brave soul died fighting an enemy we can't stop, who is slowly killing the very world we love because we were stupid and ignorant, like children. We showed contempt and hatred when we should of showed love and compassion. My father fights because he doesn't know how this can end any other way because the time for talk is gone. The proper authorities are doing all they can. The proper authorities are powerless. The hell you think you and your books are going to do?!" She throws one right at Blake's chest and it hits her "Dead. Because you are so mentally exhausted you can't even react. You think I don't want the White Fang taken down?! They nearly killed my brother! Left him beaten, broken, bleeding and paralyzed!" Blake looks down and then Yolanda hugs her "Don't let this consume you. Don't let this destroy the person that you are. Don't become the thing you are setting out to stop."


	4. Ballroom Blitz

Yolanda looks across the ballroom. She looks at all of her classmates, all in dazzling gowns and spiffy tuxedoes. Yolanda is sporting her own glamorous gown, a yellow dress parted on the right side, white fringe at the bottom and along the edge of the parted right side, with no shoulder straps. Draped over her right shoulder was an orange sash, wrapped from her shoulder to just below her left arm. When she saw Ruby standing off on her own she slowly walks to her, careful not to interrupt the dancers. Ruby looks over at her "Wow, you look awesome." She sings the last part and Yolanda smiles "You are not so bad looking yourself. No date?"

"Nope."

"Wanna dance?"

"Nope."

"Going to guard the punch bowl?" Ruby jumps for joy "You bet." Yolanda laughs as Ruby walks towards the punch bowl. She smiles at a passing Blake, in a stunning gown, with Sun, who managed to wear a tie. Biggest shocker of the night so far. She slowly saunters her way to her father, who stands over by Ozpin and Glenda "Hold that thought Glenda. I will be right back." He walks to his daughter, and without a word they get into proper form and begin to slowly dance. "Hello dad. It's good to see you taking it easy for once."

"We can't all work 24/7. It's maddening."

"Ozpin never seems to stop."

"Ozpin isn't sane either now is he?"

"His methods are unorthodox, but effective. He's something of an enigma really." This makes James laugh "He sure is. Well, I promised a dance to an old friend. Enjoy your night dear." Yolanda watches him walk away and when he gets close to Glenda she points her riding crop to his chest "Who you calling old?"

Ruby's excursion was curious. She was not one to hurry off without word or warning. Yolanda stalked her for a while, then realized that as she followed Ruby, Ruby stalked prey of her own. A rooftop silhouette leaped down onto the ground and as they followed, they lost the pursuit. Yolanda drops down next to Ruby frightening her but Yolanda instinctively puts a hand over her mouth "Shhh… there is prey afoot." They both summoned their lockers, and Yolanda kisses her pistol "I told you momma wouldn't be gone long." Ruby giggles "I'm not even that crazy about-"

"Shh." Ruby and Yolanda see the knocked out guard and continue into the Atlas controlled building. Passing by several dead and incapacitated guards, Ruby and Yolanda take the elevator down, and Yolanda runs out in the room, seeing the woman in the black mask and outfit "It's a school dance not a masquerade ball. So-" Cinder pulls a vial from her waist and creates dust crystals that fly right at them, Ruby and Yolanda roll out of the way and open fire. Cinder blocks all the shots then leaps back and fires her bow. The arrows miss, but they detonate, and the elevator opens to reveal a frustrated Ironwood. Yolanda turns to see their prey had vanished. Later, she sits on the steps of the building "Can you track her with your semblance?"

"The use of dust interferes with my senses when I try to use my tracking." Ironwood nods "Then let us hope nothing important was taken."

Yang looked down at her aura gauge. Everyone on her team was in the red, herself included. Beowolves swarming from every side. She saw Urania's unconscious body next to Genivieve, who was bleeding from the gashes in her front. She desperately crawled towards Neros' sword, which was stuck in the ground near her, only to look up in horror at the body of a massive Ursa. It smacks her aside and into a tree, putting an end to her. Yang pushes herself to her feet and the Ursa gets right in her face, snarling "Wake up! Wake up!" Her eyes fly open and she sits up straight, turning to see her three teammates standing around her. Urania is the first to speak "What's wrong Yang?" Yang rubs her forehead then groans "Just a bad dream I suppose." Neros smirks "More like a reoccurring nightmare. This is the third time this week you woke up in a cold sweat screaming our names."

Yang stands slowly and walks out of the room "Just need some air is all." She walks out of the dorm room and Urania goes to walk after her but Neros stops her "Allow me." He follows her at a distance, and she notices but pays him little mind. As he follows her though, he begins to hum. Then whistle. Then he started singing. That was where Yang had to draw the line, turning to face him "Stop it." He shrugs "Stop what?"

"Stop trying to annoy me into telling you what is wrong."

"I'm merely out for a midnight stroll. I promise I'm planning nothing nearly as nefarious as you claim." Yang folds her arms then her frustrated expression turns soft, tears running down her cheeks as she hugs him. He puts his arms around her "It's okay Yang. We are your team. We want to be there for you."

"But what if I can't be there for you? What if I fail as your leader?" Neros frowns "Well now, that can't happen."

"If it does, you all will die."

"So that's what this nightmare of yours is about."

"Grimm as far as the eye can see. Urania beaten and broken. Genivieve… and I couldn't even stand let alone fight. I was too weak." Neros sighs "You're not weak. You have a whole team backing you. You just need to have faith in us, and you have to believe that no matter how hard things get, we will persevere." Yang nods and he continues "OR, we might die trying. You never know. Things happen." Yang pushes him lightly and he chuckles "That's not funny, jerk." He hugs her again and she relaxes against him "Come on Firecracker, time for bed."

The dance was fun, but it was back to reality. Using what bit they knew about the White Fang operations, they deduced that they needed a mission in the southeast quadrant. After a promising(?) sendoff by Ozpin, who happily bent the rules to allow them onto the search and destroy mission in the southeastern quadrant, Team RWBY made their way outside, where Ruby accidentally tripped over a bag on the floor and stumbled face first into the chest of Yang, knocking both girls over. Ruby stands back up "Oh no, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Yang hops back to her feet "Yep. Names Yang."

"Ruby." The two shake hands. "So you must be from Beacon."

"How could you tell?"

"Well, I saw you standing with everyone else in the Beacon quadrant of the room. The red cloak is a dead giveaway."

"Oh right. Yeah. You must be from Haven."

"Do you know Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Yeah, did you go to school with her at Sanctum?"

"I did, she certainly was a cut above the rest." Ruby nods "Well, I have my mission so I should get going." Yang gives her a thumbs up "Good luck out there Ruby."

Mr. Oobleck "I'm Doctor Oobleck. I worked to earn that distinction." Doctor Oobleck was not Ruby's idea of the perfect huntsman to shadow. The coffee fueled history teacher began instantly lecturing them about a time schedule and the importance of traveling light "We will be doing recon so we will not be establishing a permanent base of operations, therefore we will not be needing much gear. I have all the essentials aboard the plane and we will move from one defensible position to another." Ruby swore that his words all ran together. Yolanda was the only one really paying attention. She knew the importance of survival in the wild and traveling light. As they flew, Oobleck explained that they would land on Mount Glenn. Perfect hiding spot for a group like the White Fang.

Yolanda sits in the windowsill of a hallowed out building on Mount Glenn, on first watch as her team got a little shut eye. Doctor Oobleck asked her why she wanted to be a huntress. But why we do things is always a hard question to answer. Is there any reason she started down the journey other than the desire to not follow in her father's footsteps? Why did she not want to follow in his footsteps? He was a strong, well respected and beloved man. In most circles. She folds her arms, shivering against the cold as Zwei, Ruby's pet dog, sits next to her. Yolanda was not surprised that Ruby dragged along the pup that they received just this morning in the mail, of all places. Just when she thought Ruby could not get any more bizarre, her family turned out to be crazier than her. Yolanda chuckles softly to herself, feeling exhaustion setting in, but she wanted to give Ruby a few more hours of rest. Zwei licks her hand and she realizes that she drifted off a little. She walks over and gently shakes Ruby "Hey, Rubes. Ruby, wake up." She shakes her gently "Fearless leader, open your eyeballs I need to rest mine." Ruby giggles softly and groans "Come on momma, ten more minutes…" She yawns sleepily and stretches "I'm up… go get a nap I'm going to watch for baddies."

Yolanda awakens when she feels Zwei pushing against her face with his wet nose. She sneezes, making the dog jump back, knocking over a loose wooden beam which brings down Oobleck's sleeping spot. Yolanda sits up, as does the rest of the team, sneezing again. "I told Ruby I was allergic… Zwei what is the big idea?" Weiss looks around "Where is Ruby?!" Yolanda scans the room, then tries to activate her semblance but her allergic reaction blocks out her sensory ability. Zwei runs out of the building and Yolanda runs after him "Ruby must be in trouble! Come on team."

Weiss follows, but she has trouble resisting a smirk "Who made you Team RWBY co-captain?" Yolanda sighs "Really? Now of all times? Fine, you can lead. What is your master plan?" As they run Weiss puts her finger to her chin "We follow Zwei, then we recapture our leader." Yolanda draws her pistol as they near the giant hole in the street. Sitting by this crater is Ruby's signature weapon, Crescent Rose. "My father mentioned something about this. After the siege of Mount Glenn refugees built a whole other settlement underground."

Oobleck stands at the edge of the hole "That was until a mining incident flooded the caverns with grimm, remind me when we get back to give you bonus credit for your historical knowhow Miss Ironwood."

As they shot through the members of the White Fang, Yolanda had a creeping feeling that Roman was nearby. She could feel his vile presence. Sure enough she saw him, with Ruby his captive. Yolanda aims at Roman who grins, placing his cane on Ruby's shoulder and pointing it at Yolanda, an arm around Ruby's neck. The sight pops up on his cane and he smiles "Go ahead, daddy's little princess, pull that trigger." A large train in the cavern, on the only functional set of tracks, takes off into the main tunnel. Roman kicks Ruby into Yolanda and uses his cane to board onto the side of the train and makes his way towards the front. Ruby, now armed with her scythe which Blake recovered, leaps onto the back of the train with her team in tow. Once on top of the train, Ruby pries open the top of the first train car. She is alarmed to see a bomb sitting inside the train car. She looks up "Bombs! Everyone to the next car!" They leap to the next car as the caboose detaches, detonating explosively and heavily damaging the tunnel.

"This one has a bomb too. And the clock is ticking." Yells Blake as she pops open the roof to the train car. They leap to the next one and Ruby yells out over the noise "This doesn't make any sense." Yolanda screams "Go! Next car!" As this one detaches and explodes Roman's plan becomes clear. A hole opens in the train tunnel and grimm pour in, chasing the train. Oobleck is the first to speak "It's obvious what is happening. They are attracting grimm, then they will ram this train through the tunnel that sealed Vale off from the grimm invasion 80 years ago, flooding the city and killing millions." Ruby clenches her fist "Then we need to stop this train!"

As the team moved up the train cars they saw confiscated Atlesean Paladins ahead, which were just short enough to stand on the train cars without hitting their heads on the tunnel roof. Yolanda reaches in her back pouch, loading her pistol with dust rounds. She fires an ice round at its gun arm, freezing it, then she rushes at it, drawing her sword and shooting its leg, freezing that as well and her sword cuts through the leg like butter. Oobleck's coffee mug turns into a club and he hits Zwei with it, the dog soars through the air and hits the Paladin, knocking it off the train. Okay, allergic to him or not, Yolanda loved that dog. Yolanda shoots a lightning round that disables another Paladin's leg and he stumbles off. Oobleck shouts out "I'll take care of the robots, you guys get to the front car. We need to stop this train!" Ruby stomps her foot "Hey, I already said that!"

Yolanda looks across the inside of the train car at the bizarre young girl. One half of her clothing was pink, the other brown. Yolanda looks to Blake and Weiss "I'll handle her. You guys hurry onward." Weiss nods to her "Be careful." Yolanda rushes her opponent and circles behind her as she slowly walks around the room. When the blade runs through her back, the image of Neo shatters. Yolanda turns and Neo blocks her every strike attempt with her umbrella, easily dodging and rolling. Yolanda's speed begins to overwhelm her but just as Yolanda goes to land the killing blow, she hits another image which shatters. Yolanda looks around the room and she switches to sensory, shooting at Neo who was in a corner. She blocks the shot with her umbrella, Yolanda closing the distance. Right when she senses Neo is no longer in front of her, she swings a broad swipe with her sword, which breaks into its whipsword form. Neo leaps over her and throws a handful of dust in her face. Yolanda reaches for her pistol ammo pouch but Neo ransacked them. That dust must have been her own. She swore she would never carry it again. Reacting purely on instinct, Yolanda catches Neo off guard with a blind parry and she kicks her out the back door of the train car.

YUNG's patrol was boring. Patrolling around Vale with peacekeepers proved to be a tiring experience. Until the alarms sounded. Yang's team looked around frantically to see where the emergency might be when the sealed off subway tunnel suddenly exploded. The trainwreck caused rubble to scatter everywhere. Then, the unthinkable happened. Grimm of all types and sizes poured out of the tunnel and began swarming the city. YUNG leaped into action, splitting up against the swarm of grimm. Yang punched aside several grimm, clearing a path for Urania, who summoned a storm of ice shards to rain down upon them, Genivieve hops up on top of a building and fires upon the stragglers that were escaping further into the city. An Ursa corners an old man in an alley and she leaps high in the air, impaling the beast with her sword through his back then returns to her rooftop cover fire. Neros slashes through several Ursa, then slashes the air and sends an energy wave that carves through a group of Beowolves. Yang made her way to where Team RWBY was surrounded, leaping into the middle of the action. "Ruby."

"Yang. Good to see you again."

"Likewise. Looks like you guys were having a blast."

"Oh, it was an explosive time." Yang frowns at Ruby's pun attempt "Puns are more my thing, but good effort." Neros leaps overhead and slices off the head of a King Taijitu. His sword folds down to its one handed version allowing him to fire several slicing beams at once. Yang leaps in behind him, punching a Boarbatusk that was rolling right towards him. Yolanda opens fire with her pistol set to full auto, and amongst the insanity, the Atlas fleet arrived, dropping synthetic soldiers onto the street. Both teams split up, Yolanda switching her pistol to its .50 rounds and blasts away three more grimm. Blake uses her sword on her ribbon to suppress and cut down an entire group, Weiss' glyphs allowing her to get above the fighting, flanking the majority of the grimm. She freezes a group of them and uses a fire blast to shatter all of them. She easily dodges all of the charging grimm and uses a glyph as a shield to block a Boarbatusk. Team CFVN drops from a chopper and cuts through some of the remaining grimm, Coco's briefcase turns into a minigun, much to the amazement of Yolanda "Momma likes…" The way Coco made short work of most of the remaining grimm was amazing.

A few days had passed, and repairs went swiftly thanks to Glynda and her semblance. Qrow came back early from his mission, standing in the recently repaired town square. He sends a message on his scroll then sits by the fountain, drinking from his flask "And now we wait."


	5. The Reunion

Yang wanders the town square looking for her father when she sees Ruby, who seems to be equally lost "Hey Ruby."

"Yang. Good to see you again." From the shadows emerges Qrow and Taiyang. Ruby hugs her uncle's arm eagerly, dangling from him and laughing "Uncle Qrow! I'm so happy to see you! Are you excited to see me?!"

"No. Of course I am are you kidding me?!" Yang hugs her father "Dad you didn't have to come all the way here to visit with me."

"Well, I'm not here to visit you, you are here to see each other. Ruby, Yang, its time you knew the truth." They both eye him suspiciously and Ruby looks over at her uncle "What truth?" Qrow ruffles her hair "Well kiddo, you were adopted."

"No kidding, you're my uncle."

"Taiyang is your father. Yang is your half sister." Ruby freezes, and Yang looks up at her father who nods. They both turn to face each other, Yang gasps "Oh my god…" She hugs Ruby tightly "I have a sister! I have a little sister!" She swings Ruby around who flails desperately, trying to free herself. "I knew it. I knew I remembered you. I was really young and I couldn't remember much but I knew out there somewhere I had a sibling."

Ruby gasps out "You are… going to… lose her… please… mercy…" Yang sets Ruby back down who needs a few seconds to right herself, stumbling and dizzy. Yang turns to her father "But why?"

"When I lost Ruby's mother, Summer, it was devastating to me. And Ruby was so small. You yourself were barely 4. Qrow knew that with her loss and having to raise two children, I would become overwhelmed and break even more. Losing your mother, Yang was hard enough. Losing Ruby's… I hit my lowest emotional point. He took you away Ruby. At first it was meant to be only for a short time. But as you grew older I couldn't bring myself to bring the family back together and completely change both your lives. You were young, and you had bright futures ahead of you. But I had planned all along for this day and I'm happy to see you embracing this so well." Ruby giggles "Yang is embracing it really hard."

As if the excitement of having a sister wasn't enough, one of the first rounds of the Vytal festival would turn out to be Team RWBY versus Team YUNG. Newly discovered siblings smiled at each other from across the arena. Ruby stood across from her sister, nervously shifting her feet as the rest of her team surrounded her. Urania elbows Yang softly "That her?"

"Yep." Yolanda whistles when she sees Yang "That's your sister?" Ruby smiles wide as she draws her scythe "Yeah that's my big sis." Yang puts her hands on her hips "Alright little sis. Time to see what you can do. I'm sure this will be a blast." Ember Celica fully extends and Urania giggles at her subtle pun. The arena shuffled, one half ice, one half forest.

Genivieve looks across at Yolanda, bowing respectfully "My father has served under yours for years. Sargent Helios. It will be an honor to face the daughter of the great General Ironwood." Yolanda blushes "I'm flattered." Yang gives her sister a thumbs up "No matter what happens sis, I'm proud of you."

At the start of the match Ruby fires at her sister, Yang rolls to dodge her shots and Yang fires behind her, launching her at her sister, who uses her insane speed to dodge. Yang slides across the ice and into a giant icicle. Neros leaps at Weiss, and she easily deflects his sword strike with her sword and strikes his back, kicking him into a glyph that accelerates him into the trees. Urania summons a fireball that misses Blake but hits her intended target, the ice. Instead of just detonating, the fire burst into several smaller fireballs that exploded with enough force that the steam hung low over the arena.

Weiss tried to focus. She used her Time Dilation when she heard Blake yell out. Neros leaps out of the steam smokescreen, and Weiss slashes her sword upward to meet his, the shield created blocks his strike and launches him skyward. His sword folds down and he fires several energy beams by swinging it in random patterns, blanketing the field. This stirs up enough wind to clear the field. He missed his intended target, but hit Blake and nearly depleted her Aura. Blake leaps to her feet and rolls to dodge Urania's lightning strike and runs right at her, firing at her and throwing Gambol Shroud at Urania who dodges her attempt at grappling her only to be blasted out of the arena by a fire blast from Weiss' sword.

Ruby uses her speed to dodge all of Yang's long ranged shotgun blasts, and Yang runs after her into the forest. Yang slows to a stop cautiously, looking around and leaping out of the way to avoid Ruby's slash which cuts right through a tree. Yang blocks her overhead slash and shoots right at Ruby's feet, grabbing her by her arm and throwing her into the middle of the arena. Ruby, without Crescent Rose, stands slowly, when her scythe lands nearby her. She picks it up and smiles at Yang who reloads Ember Celica. Ruby reloads her sniper and they both giggle at each other. "Having fun little sis?"

"You bet." On the ice side of the arena Yolanda and Genivieve locked swords. Genivieve was easily able to keep pace with Yolanda, much to her surprise. Yolanda's sword turns into a whip sword, grabbing Genivieve by her leg, flipping her over and she lands a hard kick to her stomach. When she slides to a stop, Genivieve draws her rifle and they both fire at each other, dodging and rolling while maintaining a constant exchange of fire, until Yolanda's mag runs dry. Genivieve smirks, blasting her sword and pistol from her hand. "Time to test my new ability." Yolanda puts her hands out, focusing, and her weapons fly to her hands. "Sweet, sweet Evolution." She leaps high in the air, her sword becoming a greatsword, and upon meeting the blade of Genivieve, a crater is created from the force and the wave of energy let off rocks the stadium. Yolanda pushes off her sword, landing on her feet and her sword breaks apart to form a rapier. She dashes in close and overwhelms Genevieve with rapid strikes until Genivieve holds her breath, hitting Yolanda with rapid hits until she was sure she had done enough damage, then kicks her out of the arena for good measure.

Weiss sees Yolanda fly out of the arena and frowns "Oh man, that's not good." Neros sent two slashes Weiss' way who moves aside from one then uses a glyph to teleport the other right behind Neros, who is wounded by his own attack. He stands and is encased in ice. Neros lets off a short ranged blast of energy, freeing himself. His sword becomes a longsword and he again rapid fires energy blades at Weiss who deflects them with her shield, but her shield shatters and she stumbles "But… I…" Neros closes the distance faster than she can regain her balance "Checkmate." The butt of his sword strikes her in her gut, hard, knocking her back out of the arena. He turns in time to catch Blake's flying kick to the face, sending him flat on his back out of the arena as well. Blake turns and sees Genivieve walking towards her slowly, blade drawn. Blake sheathes Gambol Shroud, favoring its cleaver form, rushing at Genivieve. They run towards each other and both swing at each other. They slide to a stop just feet apart, breathing heavy. Both collapse, their Aura's depleted.

Ruby lands a couple solid strikes on Yang and uses her weapon to block Yang's counter strike, but this still knocks Ruby back "She's getting stronger." Ruby runs at her and leaps, her cloak twisting around her as she tackles Yang down. Yang stands slowly, slamming her fists together and her Aura intensifies. "You're fast little sis." She leaps in the air, slamming her fist down and the shockwave knocks Ruby back far. "Time to slow you down." Ruby rolls to her feet midair, firing behind her and accelerating towards her sister. Yang fires at her in midair and rolls under her slashing strike, but is not fast enough to avoid Ruby's follow up attack to her back which depletes her aura. Yang drops to one knee then she collapses to the ground. Ruby's scythe folds down and she jumps for joy "Woohoo! I did it." Yang forces herself up as the announcer yells out Team RBWY's victory.

Yang hugs her sister "Oh my god you were super amazing, I'm so proud of how awesome of a fighter you are!"

Ruby flails, trying to break free "Need… to… work on you… controlling your strength." Yang lets Ruby free.

Ozpin looks at the other three headmasters as he considers Ruby's request. Crowe nods at Ozpin "I think it's a wonderful idea." One of the other headmasters snorts "Well, of course you do. It puts one of your students back in the match lineup." Crowe snarls "It has nothing to do with that and you know it. Being an only child I suppose you don't understand the bond that is shared by sisters. I assure you, I do."

Ozpin holds up one hand "Since there is no precedence for this, I am going to put it to a vote. All in favor of allowing Team YUNG and Team RWBY's leaders advance, say I" Ozpin and Crowe say I. "All opposed." The third headmaster opposes, leaving Ironwood the only one not to respond. "Ironwood, your answer?"

Ruby looks over at him and he scratches his chin "Well, I suppose…" Ruby's grin gets much wider. "That we could…" Ruby puts her hands together in silent prayer and her eyes gleam "Possibly…" Ruby gets frustrated "Don't hold me in suspense forever! Um, sir…" She looks down sheepishly from her outburst and he smiles "You and Yang can advance together." Ruby leaps in the air "Yaaayyyyyy!"

Yang had a similar reaction, threatening to hug Ruby but Ruby shoves Yolanda in the way, who is hugged instead. Yolanda manages to power out and Yang giggles "Come on sis I can't help it if I get excited." Ruby giggles "Sis, I need my spine for the next round." Yang slugs her on the arm softly "I know we are gonna kick butt. Can you imagine it? Fastest girl in the world and strongest girl in the world. The ultimate tag team." Yang flexes and Ruby smiles "It's going to be the best."

She turns to her team "I'm glad you guys aren't upset. I really want to fight with my sis." Yolanda nods "Of course. There will be many more fights down the road." Weiss shrugs "I enjoyed myself." Ruby hugs her whole team, Blake smirks "Yang's hugging disease is apparently contagious." Yang looks at her team then frowns "Where is Urania?" Neros shrugs and Yolanda looks around "Your faunus teammate appears to be tracking something."

Urania sits two seats behind Cinder. She focuses on her energy, and feels it is by far stronger than any energy she had sensed before. Urania turns off her semblance, holding her head "Damn… just like at the warehouse." Cinder stands and saunters off and Urania, against her better judgement, follows her. Urania watches Emerald and Mercury follow Cinder into a back room of the arena. Cinder does notice her and the three walk in together. Urania goes to hurry to the door when Yolanda stops her "No. She's detected you. You know something don't you?" Urania nods "Her energy, it's powerful, and very unique. It's unlike any other power I sensed before."

"And…"

"And I remember sensing it when my team raided a warehouse owned by the White Fang." Yolanda nods "We need to go to my father. He must know." Once in Ozpin's office, Yolanda and Urania present Ozpin and Ironwood with their evidence. "Father, you have to hurry. Whatever she is planning, it must revolve around the festival. We have to cancel-" Ironwood holds up a hand "That will not be happening. But, I will make sure everyone is on high alert. Canceling the festival could be much more detrimental than you could understand."

"But father-"

"But nothing. Yolanda, the festival cannot be canceled. But we will apprehend Emerald, Mercury and the other transfer."


	6. Breaking the Champion

Yang and Ruby were not prepared for their opponents. A rainbow colored cat faunus on rollerblades and a tuxedo wearing, trumpet wielding sauve dark skinned guy. Atlas school was not much different from any other school it seemed. Every school has its individuals that stand out. Neon zooms around on her skates "Hey blondie, I love your clothes. Ooo can you rollerblade? I love to rollerblade. Well, you probably will have trouble learning to rollerblade, since you're so, you know, top heavy."

Yang smiles "Least I'm not in the shape of a stick."

Neon huffs "your no fun." The arena begins to assemble and Neon giggles "You're going to have to work hard to keep up blondie, you seem to be at a size disadvantage." The horn sounds to start the match and Neon uses her quick speed to get in a first shot on Yang. She speeds off with Yang following her as Ruby looks over at Flynt "Your teammate is a rather mean spirited one isn't she?"

He lowers his glasses a little "Don't hate because you can't dig her vibes." Ruby fires a couple shots at Flynt who dodges, playing his trumpet and knocking her back, but she stabs her scythe down to keep from flying. He activates his semblance and his Killer Quartet sends Ruby flying without her weapon. Flynt approaches her weapon and tosses it out of the arena, smiling. Ruby stands and glares at him "I don't need my weapon to beat you."

"Alright then, let's see you try."

Yang tried to focus despite the cat faunus constantly berating her about her size and her weight. Neon was a hair too quick for Yang to keep up. Yang gives up chasing her and trying to corner her, instead she stands in one spot and fires repeatedly at her. Neon is nearly hit, the rubble in front of her launching her airborne. She lands on the urban part of the arena on a roof and turns, rushing towards Yang and hits her with several rapid strikes. Then she activates her nunchuck glowsticks so they glow blue. When they strike Yang's leg, it becomes incased in ice. Yang feels her composure slipping "Now you are bottom heavy too." Yang punches the ground and Neon loses her footing for a second, and Yang punches her out of the arena.

Meanwhile, Ruby uses her speed to knock over Flynt. When he rolls to his feet she goes for a follow up attack but she missed and stumbles into the geyser field. A geyser sends her airborne and his trumpet blast sends her out of the arena, but she turns to see her Crescent Rose. She adjusts her falling trajectory to land on the handle of her weapon as it sits impaled in the ground. She reaches down and fires her weapon off, landing back in the middle of the arena. She turns to Flynt and smiles "I'm not done quite yet." Flynt walks towards her and he fires his trumpet to suppress her. She fires behind herself to try to close the distance when he is caught off guard by Yang, who finishes him with a punch to the side of the head.

After sliding for a few feet he forces himself to stand, Neon rolling over as they announce Ruby and Yang's victory "We lost? We lost?! I can't believe… how super awesome you guys were. We should totally party together sometime." Flynt puts back on his hat "Don't forget, this was just for show. Don't hate how we play the game because we all play it different." Ruby smiles "No you guys were pretty cool. I had fun."

Yang growls "Because the rainbow kitten wasn't throwing insults at you the whole fight."

Cinder was aware she was had. Ironwood's daughter was an annoying pest. She looks into RWBY's dorm room window and smiles, a Cheshire grin across her face. As she had hoped, Yolanda was the only one there. She leaps from the tree to the window sill and slinked in through the open window. Yolanda has her pistol apart, tinkering with it. She smells a familiar scent and leaps from her chair, Cinder's daggers sink into the table. She pulls them out and Yolanda looks around the room. Her sword was in her locker, her scroll was in her nightstand. Her gun was in pieces, but…

"You have interfered for long enough. I'm going to send you back to your father in charred bits." Cinder's daggers form a bow and she draws an arrow. Yolanda leaps out the window and she aims to land near the tree. Mercury jumps out from behind the tree and kicks her in the gut with a blast from his foot. This doesn't do as much damage as he hoped and she slugs him a few times before ramming his head into the side of the tree. Her defensive evolution was her only hope, it would help her defend but without being able to hit as hard she would only draw out the fight. She leaped back to avoid Cinder's arrows only to have Emerald's sickles planted into her back. Yolanda screams out and falls forward. Cinder nods to Mercury "We need to move. We are taking her with us."

"The hell you are!" Yolanda stands to punch Cinder but with one swift motion she stabs Yolanda in the gut, then with a spinning motion she elbows her in the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious.

Weiss was the first back to their dorm, and there she felt something amiss. Yolanda said she would be here. Her gun sat on the table, in one piece, though her working tools were scattered on the floor and there were two stab marks in the table. Now she knew for a fact something was wrong. She runs into the courtyard, holding Yolanda's gun and she had her scroll in her pocket so Yolanda could call down her locker. "Jeez this thing is heavy!" She runs to Urania and Genivieve "My teammate is gone! I need your help!" Urania nods "I can help. Where was she last?"

"In our dorm. She left her gun, and there are signs of a fight. I think they got out the window." Urania focuses for a moment then nods "It's Cinder, she has Yolanda. I can still feel her lingering presence." Weiss goes wide eyed "We have to follow them!" Urania nods and looks at Genivieve "Get Neros. I think they went through the woods, I'll try to leave a trail." Weiss shakes her head "We don't have time to go gather a search party we need to move."

Yolanda was aware of three things. 1. She was in a situation she had trained for but never encountered first hand. 2. She was outclassed, outnumbered and unarmed. And 3. Pain. Ohh man, she never felt this much pain. Her searing migraine that caused her whole head to hurt, her neck in agony, her back still bleeding as did her stomach. She was chained to a wall, in a chamber, and she couldn't see much, save for the door, which had one small 6 inch by 6 inch widow, with steel bars. Suddenly, through this window she sees the smiling face of Cinder.

"Unlike your more fortunate sibling, you will not be lucky enough to leave alive. But, because I do enjoy keeping you around, we are going to be employing some old fashioned torture, so that we can get to know each other." The hours drug on for what seemed like days as Yolanda was made into a glorified punching bag. Cinder never asked any questions, merely admired how easily questionably one of the strongest fighters in Beacon fell so easily. Cinder felt such a rush of excitement. This little child had certainly put a hitch in her plans and she would pay. She would feel every bruise, every shattered rib. Suddenly, Yolanda heard a familiar sound, the sound of a high caliber hand cannon. Cinder turns to Yolanda, creating her daggers. Yolanda closes her eyes and draws what Aura she can muster, focusing all her rage into her muscles. Allowing every bruise, ache and pain to empower her. Her aura turns gold and she breaks free of her chains, punching Cinder so hard she slams into the door and blasts it out of its stone frame. She collapses, her aura depleted and her body dangerously close to giving out on her as she passes out.

Yolanda opens her eyes slowly. On one side of her bed was Team YUNG and on the other side was the rest of Team RWBY. Weiss smiles "About time you woke up. You had us all worried." Yolanda goes to move but then the pain pulses through her entire body. Ruby puts a comforting hand on her shoulder "Hold still and rest." "How… who?" Urania, Genivieve and Weiss raise their hand "My pistol…" Weiss points to the nightstand "I had brought it in case you were able to fight. Ended up saving my life."

"How did she handle?"

"Are you kidding? That 3000 pound monstrosity nearly broke my arm." Yolanda giggles "Leave firearms to the experts." She holds up a fist to Ruby but then drops it from weakness. Her father walks in and she smiles "Thanks for bringing me home in one piece guys. I need to talk to my dad though." James stops Weiss as she turns to leave.

"Thank you. Thank you all." He walks over and sits next to her bed. She smiles weakly "Yeah, I'm not sure I'll be fighting for a while." He takes her hand "I want you to quit." She groans "Dad it's not that easy. I can't just fall once, then decide to stay down."

"You almost died."

"Almost. And next time I see her, she won't be as fortunate." Ironwood stands "You are as stubborn as your mother."

"I'm not giving up. I'm going to see this through, with my team." Ironwood nods "I trust you to know what you are doing. It goes completely against my nature, but I'm going to let you stay. I can't stress enough how badly I want you to return with me… but." He sits back down "When I was your age, your grandfather wanted me to be a hunter. He told me to never join with the military. And I suppose I'll never find out if it was the better path. So, I feel like by allowing you to choose your own path that perhaps you will become the person you want to be instead of feeling like you have to live up to my standards. I want you to be happy. It's hard to separate my militaristic mindset and my parenting mindset. But, I think you are doing a wonderful job dear. Current condition excluded."

"Not my highest point." He pats her hand and walks out.


	7. When All Hell Breaks Loose

With Mercury removed by Ironwood from the tournament roster with a public statement that he was injured in an unfortunate training incident, Yang was the only semi-finalist without an opponent. So, after a few matches, everyone was preparing for Pyrrha versus Penny. Penny salutes her and smiles "Salutations! It is a pleasure to meet you." Emerald watches, in disguise, from the top of the stands. Pyrrha did not seem to have her heart in the fight and this made her easier to manipulate. Pyrrha easily dodges all of Penny's swords, slowly falling into her rhythm she had rehearsed so many times. Dodging swords, deflecting them with sword and shield alike. One of them moves thanks to her polarity, narrowly missing her head.

Pyrrha tries to get in close but Penny's swords deflect all of her strike attempts and even manage to get a few strikes in on Pyrrha. Pyrrha dodges her lasers but Penny leaps at her, swords firing lasers behind her to accelerate her into Pyrrha's shield. Pyrrha is knocked back and rolls to her feet, staring up at the growing number of swords looking down upon her. Dozens, no hundreds of swords at Penny's command bore down upon her. As they descended towards her, Pyrrha used her polarity to push them all back. Then the unthinkable happened. A travesty so horrendous, Grimm hundreds of miles away could feel the anger and sense of horror. Pyrrha felt all life drain from her body as Penny's wire puppet strings carved her to pieces. Pyrrha froze in place, even as her team came to her side. Cinder's voice came over the broadcast, causing mass confusion as she bashed Atlas. The soldiers guarding the city were quickly overwhelmed by a sudden surge of grimm.

Ruby was broken hearted, seeing Penny killed but was one of the first to run to Pyrrha's side. They look up to see a nevermore trying to crack through the force field roof. Ruby tugs on her arm "We have to leave. We are going to be overrun! Pyrrha we have to go. This isn't your fault, its Cinder's fault! Somehow she has done this!" Team JNPR rushes onto the field and Jaune grabs his friend's arm "We need to get back to Beacon and find out what is going on." Ruby goes wide eyed "Yolanda!"

Yolanda picks up her scroll and sees Blake "Yolanda, I know you are still wounded. Weiss and I are coming for you."

"Don't, I will be fine."

"This isn't up for dispute, we are coming to get you out."

"Don't endanger yourself worrying about me." Yolanda could hear the sounds of screaming in the floors below but couldn't bring herself to stand. Powerless, weak and broken. She felt horrid.

Yang was at Beacon with her team when the attack started. They split up to fight to secure the castle from all sides when the Atlas robots turned hostile. The fight felt hopeless with the robots now under enemy control. Neros ran to Urania's aid, slicing off the arm of a robot seconds before it managed to fire upon her. Urania finishes it with a powerful enough lightning blast to fry all its systems "My staff is tapped out on dust. And my aura is low." Neros nods "Then I guess you will have to beat some sense into them." Meanwhile, Yang fights off a horde of Atlesian knights, before getting clocked from the side by a paladin. Her aura grows more intense and her eyes become red. Genivieve slows time to miss getting punched and cuts through its leg, just as Yang punches it in the head hard enough to blast it back. It tries to stand but its systems fail and it falls apart. Yang looks at the many more robots and sighs "Not much more to go. How are you holding up Jeanie?"

"I'm fine, fearless leader." Yang reloads "That's the spirit." Genivieve fires and takes down a few knights that are shooting at a group of innocents, who run for cover quickly.

Yolanda's bedroom door opens and a White Fang member smiles as he walks in "Cinder offered me a special prize if I brought her your head." Yolanda reaches for her pistol but he throws a dagger and pins her hand to the nightstand "Oh no, its not going to be like that Miss Ironwood." He crawls onto her bed and sits on her stomach, making her smirk "You should at least ask me to dinner first."

"It's good to see you maintain your sense of humor, even in the face of death." Before he can react she has another pistol, which was hidden under the pillow under her back, and she holds it to his chin "Never underestimate an Ironwood." The shot drew the attention of more White Fang. She pulls the dagger from her hand and forces herself to stand. She switches her hand cannon to automatic and the other, smaller pistol she holds in her left hand. She shoots down the first thug to run into her dorm, then walks out in the hall, slowly making her way to the stairs and shooting every thug to get in her way.

Genivieve had seen visions. Images. The scene played out before her as it should. Her and Yang were running towards the room where Adam had Blake pinned to the ground and at his mercy. Then, her cry of agony. Yang's loss of composure, and the sword slash that rang in her ears as she watched her leader fall to the floor, her arm landing feet from her. But, this was not going to be how it played out this time. She tries to restrain her leader "Yang, no!" Yang's anger makes her aura intensify, and the resulting burst of energy knocks Genivieve back. Genivieve had only one last option. Time slows for her and she shoves Yang just clear of Adam, but with no time left, Genivieve is powerless to stop Adam. His sword slashes forth and crimson drops spray everywhere. Yang lands and slides on her side, turning to see Genevieve's smiling face as her life is ended in one swift motion. Her aura and armor did not even provide resistance against Adam's blade and the crimson blood that split would drain all of Yang's anger and replace it with a dark, soul crushing feeling of depression. Genivieve gave her life to protect Yang, and it was all her fault. Yang stands slowly and Blake shoves her out of the way of Adam's attack.

Blake crouches protectively over Yang, and Adam sighs "Why must you break my heart Blake?" He swings and decapitates her shadow. Blake practically drags the emotionally broken Yang out of the room. She hoped Adam would not follow but kept running until she rejoined the rest of the teams in the front courtyard. Neros and Urania run over to their leader, Urania the first to speak "Yang, are you hurt?" Yang hangs her head "I should be." Urania touches her shoulder "What's the matter."

"It's all my fault…" Yang collapses onto her back, arms outstretched "I was an idiot." Neros kneels next to her "What is it this time?" Yang looks up at him, on the verge of tears "Genivieve is dead."

Yolanda's aura was almost zero. But the White Fang expected no resistance so she easily cut through them. One of them rushes her and she deflects his sword slashes with her gun, but he manages to get in a lucky slash, cutting her left eye and she howls before shooting him in the chest. As he lays on the ground bleeding she puts a round in his head. As she makes it outside, she watched the dragon circling overhead and dropping more grimm. These grimm fell to her dual pistols quickly and she drops to one knee, smiling "Dying a proper heroes death."

"Not today." Her father lifts her onto his shoulder, taking her quickly to the chopper that he landed in. She soon lost consciousness. The chopper took off and luckily they avoided the dragon as father and daughter abandoned the fight.

Yang lies with her back against Neros, her head on his chest, one of his arms around her neck. She weeps softly, the pain of loss still something hard for her to grasp. He lays there, head against the head board, allowing his team leader to cry in his arms. She turns over and cries into his t-shirt, clutching it in her fists. He strokes her hair, and this seems to calm her, enough for her to speak "She's gone."

"I know. We are all hurting Yang. But it's not your fault." Her anger flares briefly, but like pouring a gallon of water onto an ember, its quickly replaced by sadness again. Neros forces her to stand "Come with me." She nods and they go outside. Once outside he trips her and smacks her in the back of the head. "Get over yourself." She looks up at him and sobs "Why are you doing this to me? I thought you were here for me?"

He folds his arms "I don't have time for your pathetic self-loathing." Yang stands "You just know how to hit someone where it hurts, don't you? Jerk." She starts to walk back inside and he knees her in the gut "You are going to pay for what you did." She gasps and holds her stomach, dropping on her knees as he kicks her in the side "Get up and fight me you pathetic waste of space." Yang slowly stands, clenching her fist. He sees her fist unclench and her head hang so he smirks "How many more people are you going to allow die for you before you stop being such a loser?"

Her eyes turn red, her aura glows bright and she punches him in the face so hard he is blasted through a tree. He stands slowly, rubbing his jaw and he walks towards her. Her anger flares out of control and he smiles "Simmer down Firecracker." She points at him "How dare you! I'll kill you for that!" He stands still, not moving, smiling "I'm sorry Yang. But we needed you back. I needed you back. It's time to move forward. It's time to bury our fallen, then avenge their passing. It's time that we took back our school, and reclaimed our home. And we can't do that without you."


	8. Broken and Stronger For it

Yolanda slowly stands out of bed, moving her sore muscles and working out all the cramps and groans when her neck pops loudly. She was happy to be out of bed and was even more excited to be back at 100 percent. On one table is her combat clothing, some strap on armor plates for her chest, shoulder and legs, both her pistols (which she now affectionately referred to as Beauty and Beast, Beast was the handcannon naturally) her sword and a note.

She opens the note reading it to herself "Dear Yolanda, Your recovery took a turn for the worse, and if you are reading this then your operation was successful. Your body took too much damage, but the true damage was to your aura. It was so weakened that we almost lost you. So along with some cybernetic upgrades to give you enhanced strength to supplement some irrepairable damage and a cybernetic eye to replace the organic one you lost, we also gave you a prototype cybernetic core. It was never designed to be used on humans, but it will allow you to maintain your aura, something your body seems to be unable to do naturally now. With training you may be able to use your aura yourself, at which point the device will become redundant. Your father asked that we leave you your weapons, and will be waiting for you in the training grounds. Follow the signs."

Yolanda stands across from her father in the training grounds, smiling "How did you know I was awake?"

"I had security cameras in your room, of course. I saw you start to make your way down here so I came down here to meet you." She smiles "Time to test my new upgrades then." And so while Ruby would be reunited with her sister once she woke up, Blake would set off into the night, Weiss would return home with her father, and Yolanda would remain with her father, the two training as frequently as his busy schedule would allow. As he would get busier however, Yolanda decided to seek out new sparring partners as her semblance would begin to strengthen and evolve. Yolanda smiles across the training room to Winter Schnee. Winter curtsies respectfully before drawing her sword, and Yolanda draws hers as well, opting out of using her pistols. Winter clears her throat "Your father said that you requested I spar with you. I am honored that you asked for me specifically."

Yolanda nods "I saw your fight with Qrow at Beacon." Winter blushes "That was a bit of embarrassing business." Yolanda smiles "Well then, shall we?" The two rush right at each other, swords clashing. Yolanda manages to keep pace with Winter, and Winter changes her stance, allowing Yolanda to be the aggressor and waiting for an opening. Her patience is rewarded when she lands a quick strike to her chest. Yolanda smirks and they continue to exchange strikes, but Winter notices her pace quickening. Winter struggles to keep up, going for another quick thrust, but Yolanda dodges it and elbows her in the face. Winter stumbles back and nods in approval "You are indeed your father's daughter."

Yolanda smiles "I can feel it. It's almost time for me to get back out there. Rejoin this fight. And I will have my revenge. I will take Cinder's head, and no one is going to stop me."

After several weeks of tracking Cinder, Yolanda looks across the field from her tree perch, eyeing the fall maiden and her three allies closely. She was aware from one of her father's reports that Roman died when he was swallowed by a grimm. Good riddance to bad trash. Sadly, she was still outnumbered 4 to 1. Time to put her new gear to use. Yolanda straps on a breastplate and then she straps 3 armbands to her left arm that creates a metal sleeve running up to her shoulder and connecting with the chest piece. She moves her arm around, smiling a little as the metal flexes rather easily. She draws her sword in her left and her handcannon in her right hand. She leaps down from the trees, not at all surprised that even from 45 yards the 4 were aware of her presence. Her blade transforms, becoming long and thin, and she walks towards them non chalontly. Despite her injured face Cinder manages a smile. Yolanda smiles and lighting courses up her arm to her blade, and her aura turns gold. A combination Semblance of Ruby and Yang would give her the strength and speed advantage early on. Mercury rushes at her and she spins to dodge his kick, dodging each one of his attacks before parrying one kick with her gun and slicing off one of his robot legs. She kicks him aside and turns to Cinder, but notices Emerald and Neo are gone. Yolanda turns in time to see a rather odd sight. Emerald was poised to strike Yolanda from behind, but Neo blocked her sneak attack with her folded umbrella, smiling. She opens the umbrella, knocking Emerald back, before leaping next to Yolanda. Yolanda looks at the bizzare girl, smirking "This because I kicked your ass on the train?" Neo tilts her head, smiling and nodding.

Cinder growls and tries to force herself to speak "Traitor." Cinder rushes Yolanda and Yolanda switches to speed, combining Ruby's speed semblance and Blake's shadows to overwhelm Cinder. Finally growing irritated of Yolanda's constant counterattacks and hard to track movements, Cinder lets off a blast of fire that blasts back Yolanda, Emerald and Neo. Cinder aims her bow directly at Yolanda, who is slowly making it to her feet. When she looses her arrow, aimed at her chest, Yolanda's illusion shatters. Cinder's howl of anguish carries for miles.

Ruby, Yang, Neros, Urania, Jaune, Nora and Ren stand outside Qrow's cottage. According to his reports, Ruby figured the best place to look for answers would be Haven. Yang was happy to be returning to her school, as was Neros. As for what they might find there, no one knew. So the group set off at the dawn of a new day, heading towards Haven, and hopefully, answers. Yang was back to herself, and Jaune had time to come to terms with the death of Pyrrha. But of everyone there, Ruby was probably the one that was the most worried, and the most scared. She wouldn't allow her group to see it, but she was so devastated by the death's that had transpired, and not knowing the exact fate of Yolanda was similarly unnerving. Qrow had merely told her that they didn't think she would make it.

Ruby's plan was to make their way to Vale, cut through the grimm to the established safe zone, then continue on their way to Haven. Naturally, easier said than done. After fighting through grimm for nearly a whole day, Ruby and company took refuge in one of the old bookstores. Ren looks through what books are remaining in the store, while Urania loads the last of her dust supply in her staff "Pretty soon I'll be fighting with nothing but a fancy stick." Neros chuckles "You can borrow my sword."

"I would collapse from exhaustion as soon as I try to lift it." Ruby stands in front of the group "Look guys, I know its still a ways to go before we reach the safe zone. But we can do this, as long as we stick together and keep hopeful." Yang hangs her head "I wish Genivieve was here." Jaune puts a hand on her shoulder "I miss Pyrrha, I know how you feel." Ruby feels herself about to break, her attempt at raising everyone's spirits crushing her own. Just before she starts to cry Neros stands "Listen up people, we got a lot more ground to cover, and the enemy isn't going to give it up easily. But we are hunters and huntresses, the top of our respective classes. We didn't come here to sift through the past, whine about our losses and then go home. We came here to take back our land. And that starts now. Who is ready?" Everyone stands and Ruby smiles up at him "Thanks big guy." She slugs him in the side and he smiles "Anytime."

Ruby motions for Yang and Neros to fall back from the front line fight, Ruby and Ren rush in, thinning out the group by overwhelming them with their speed, while Jaune and Nora fought as the last line of defense between the grimm and the recovering Neros and Yang. This had been their overall strategy so far, to allow each pair time to recover. Urania was reserving her staff's dust for any real threat, so she was staying out of the fight. Ruby and Ren drop back and Urania steps forward, using her staff to create a tidal wave of fire that eliminates the last of the grimm, only for more to crawl out of the building. Ruby drops to one knee, on the verge of tears again.

"Seriously?!" A small Atlas craft flies overheld and slows to a hover. Its front mounted minigun cuts down the grimm and chews through them like paper. It lowers, and Yolanda leaps out the side hatch, handcannon in her right hand and the metal sleeve on her left. She shoots down two Ursa, before grabbing a Beowolf and electrocuting it then throwing it through a building. She blocks an Ursa with her left arm, shooting it in the head with her gun as the chopper circles around and picks off more of the grimm. Yolanda's red, robotic eye scans the area as the chopper lands by her. Ruby runs up to hug her but Yolanda sheathes her pistol and holds out her right hand to stop her "Hello Ruby." Ruby frowns "Yolanda. How are you? I missed you."

Yolanda smiles a little "I expect you did. Yes I made a full recovery, and then some." Neo leaps off the chopper and Ruby looks at Yolanda alarmed "You're not…"

"On Cinder's side? Oh no, not at all. I'm on my side. And Neo wised up, she joined the winning team. It's your destiny to stop this invasion and fix this Ruby. But, I have different plans. Should we ever cross paths again, I imagine we won't be friends. And it is difficult for me to say this, but the day will come when we will face each other, and only one will walk away." Ruby lets a tear slip then shakes her head "Don't talk that way. We can stop Cinder together. Remember? We are a team." Yolanda smirks "Yes, the faunus who always runs from her problems, the heiress with daddy issues and the little girl, with an affection for chocolate chip cookies and getting in way over her head. Good luck Ruby. We may no longer be friends, but I'm cheering for you."

Yolanda boards the ship and Neo gives Ruby a psychopathic grin and tilt of her head before Yolanda calls out "Neo, time to leave." Neo skips to the chopper and they fly off.

Naturally, team CVYN was the guardians of the safe zone. Ruby and her exhausted group made their way inside. What little bit of the synthetic Atlesian army remained also patrolled the base. Ruby smiled as she was greeted by Velvet first. Velvet looks at the group "You guys passed through the heaviest concentration of grimm. You guys need rest." Yang smiles "A bed. Yay." Yang hugs Velvet, making the shy faunus go wide eyed and Yang sighs contently "Social interaction with other people. I can't be around the same people for several weeks, its killing me."

Velvet squeaks "Help… me." Coca yells out from her tower perch "Incoming swarm. Anyone not fit to fight needs to get clear." Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose but Velvet puts a hand on her shoulder, having been released from her Yang-prison. "Let us handle this, it shouldn't be a problem." Ruby nods and her group continue deeper inside, finding some empty beds and crashing for the night, despite the sound of gunfire outside.

Yolanda bursts through her door to her father's office, collapsing onto one knee "Dad… I…" He runs to her and helps her stand, tears rolling down her cheeks. He looks at her bewildered "Yolanda, where have you been?! I haven't seen you for days, then one of my choppers goes missing. I've found reports about prototype equipment going missing, a prototype mech is gone, and my cameras show you doing it."

She sobs in his chest "Father, I don't know what to say… I'm… I'm sorry." His eyes go wide as he feels the blade pierce his chest, and before he can react the subsequent electrical shock fries his nervous system and his mind. He collapses dead on the floor and Yolanda stands over him, looking genuinely hurt. Neo walks over next to her and puts an arm around her waist as she smiles down at the dead body of the Atlas General. Yolanda sits at his chair, nudging Neo away "I'll be fine. Just didn't want to have to kill him. But his death is a necessity in order for my plans to move forward." She opens up his desktop holocomputer, searching through all the files and downloading them to her scroll. Neo hugs her around the neck from behind before putting her in a playful chokehold. Yolanda sighs "I don't have time to play around Neo."


	9. A Journey towards Answers

Once they had made it to Vale, Ruby's plan fell apart. No one there had any information for them to go off of. So, it ended up falling to Ruby's uncle Crowe to gather the information they needed. Thankfully, he was able to get Ruby back on track, and she went off with Jaune, Ren and Nora to Minstral.

Yang walks outside, sitting in the grass and running her hands through the grass absentmindedly. She had been staying with Neros at her Uncle Crow's house for months now. She felt sorry for Neros. Since she lost her fighting spirit losing Genevieve, she felt like she was holding Neros back. He refused to leave her side and join the fight, fruitlessly trying to help her conquer her fears. Neros puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing softly "Come on Firecracker, lets spar a little. You have to stay in shape."

Yang looks up at him, frowning "I don't know Neros, I don't feel like it."

He grins "Don't feel like getting your butt kicked again?"

She brings her knees up to her chest "Come on Neros… I said I don't…" He grabs a handful of her hair and gives it a tug, causing her eyes to turn red "Alright, I get your point. Fine, you want a brawl, I'll give you one."

Neros separates himself from her, grinning "That's better. Come on, show me some of that fire." She dashes at him and throws a left, which he ducks. She catches him with a right uppercut, dazing him and leaving him vulnerable for several body shots. Neros deflects her uppercut with his right hand then reverses his momentum, hitting her with a powerful right hook before hitting her with an uppercut body shot with his left. He sweeps her legs out from under her and she rolls to her feet. She rushes at him and he grabs her arm, hip tossing her back down to the ground again. She rolls to her feet, gasping for air. Had it actually been this long? Was she actually this out of shape?

"Time out."

Neros shakes his head "No, you have to keep pushing yourself if you want to get back into your prime."

She folds her arms "And what says I want to get back into my fighting prime? Why bother? I just get everyone around me killed."

Neros walks closer to her then stops in his tracks, frozen in place. Yang turns around and sees one red eye in the treelines observing them. Yolanda walks out into the open, drawing her sword from her sheath on her waist. As the sword scrapes against the scabbard Yang's head becomes plagued with images of Genivieve's death and she clutches her head, screaming incoherently. Yolanda narrows her eyes "Good god woman, pull yourself together. I was impaled in the back and nearly bled to death because of it, tortured for several hours, then after a day of agonizing pain I dragged my near lifeless body out of that cess pit of a school. And I'm stronger because of it. Thanks to the fact that I wasn't a pathetic loser to begin with. So you lost your friend. Boohoo. I lost my eye!"

Neros was unfortunately unarmed, but he still had his semblance. He just needed something metal. His eyes scan the outside and he sees a wood chopping axe. He walks back towards it and Yolanda steps closer "I know you have to be kidding. My high tech sword against that pitiful hacking tool?" Neros pulls it out of the stump and gives it a few test swings.

"It's not the size of the tool but the wielder, you should know that."

Yolanda smiles "Oo, risqué. I like it." Neros charges at Yolanda and she dodges his overhead swing, narrowly avoiding his followup horizontal sweep. He grins, going for a diagonal slash. When Yolanda leaps back, she notices the energy beam as it sings through the air towards her "Damn!" She uses a shadow clone to pull her out of the way, the beam slicing the clone in two. "I forgot about your semblance."

He smirks "You always underestimate your opponents."

She nods a little "Thanks for the criticism. But I am actually here to discern the location of your allies. I could probably sense them out, but if you tell me where they are going, you could save me the trouble and I could probably find a shortcut."

Neros stands, raising his axe up high and charging "I would never betray my friends!" Yolanda flicks her wrist and the head of the axe flies off, and Yolanda grabs the handle, pulling Neros into a hard knee to the gut. She swings her sword at him, aimed right for his neck and he raises his arm to block the strike, his aura holding up against it well. The sword breaks apart and snakes up his arm, and then she pulls him up by his arm and slams him through a tree.

Yang yells out "That's enough!" She rushes towards Yolanda who non-chalontly draws her pistol and fires several rounds into Yang's chest, the first few bounce of Yang's aura harmlessly but the last couple break her aura. Yolanda lifts Neros again, slamming him into the ground harder, then sheathes her pistol and draws her handcannon, firing a heavy round into Yang's leg, making her cry out in anguish.

Neros growls "How dare you!" He channels his aura into Yolanda's sword which was cutting into his arm, blasting it apart. He lunges at her, tackling her side arm away from her but she kicks him back from her, firing a round from her hand cannon that hits him in the chest, the round not piercing his aura but the energy behind the shot knocking him backwards.

Yolanda turns to Yang and points her gun at her, then sheathes her handcannon "No, you're too pitiful to bother killing." Yolanda leaps into the trees and disappears.


	10. Favorable Conditions

Urania observed the meeting of the alliance of villains from a safe distance, hanging on every word. Since the fall of beacon several months before, she split from the group to hunt down Cinder and discover her plans. So, hunting down the spring maiden was their endgame. Then the Summer and Winter maiden are most likely next on their list. This Salem character frightened her. There was such immense power emanating from her that it took Urania several minutes to adjust to her presence. Even Cinder was a whimper compared to Salem, though this was likely due to Cinder's wounded state.

Urania pulls out her scroll as Tyrian leaves the room, and gets Ruby's voicemail. "Ruby, status update. They have an assassin, named Tyrian who is on route to hunt you down apparently. They seem to have a contact in Minstral who is vital to their next step forward, so your hunch was right. I'm going to contact Neros, group with him and try to slow down this Tyrian guy."

Yolanda clears her throat, standing a few feet back from Urania "But first, you have business to attend to."

Urania pulls her staff of her back, clicking a button on the top, blades extending from each end. Urania spins her staff and smiles at Yolanda "You have been M.I.A. for quite a while now. We were starting to hope you would just stay gone."

Yolanda grins "Well, it's ironic that we ran into each other scouting our mutual enemy." Yolanda fixes a silver bracelet on each wrist and electricity sparks between the wrist braces and her shoulder pads, which channels into her metal plate, to the metal bands on her legs. She had a pistol on each hip, but she no longer carried a sword.

Urania whistles "With that getup, you have pretty much turned your body into a walking weapon."

Yolanda smiles "Like you wouldn't believe. So, tell me where Jaune is and I won't kill you."

Urania giggles "You won't kill me otherwise." Yolanda dashes behind her and Urania spins her staff, the blade of her staff at Yolanda's throat and Yolanda's hand nearly at Urania's throat. Urania presses another button on her staff and Yolanda leaps back just in time to avoid the spray of freezing dust. She rushes in towards Urania again, who blocks her right hook with her staff, kicking Yolanda in the chest hard. Yolanda slides back a couple feet and Urania spins her staff, slamming down the end and causing pillars of fire to rise out of the ground towards Yolanda. Yolanda leaps through the fire, tackling Urania to the ground and grabbing her by her throat. She channels lightning into her hands, but Urania grabs her face, channeling the lightning into her hands and right into Yolanda's face, charging the lightning with her own aura and intensifying the charge. Yolanda screams and backs away from her, clutching her face. Urania leaps to her feet, kicking Yolanda in the face hard and knocking her unconscious. Urania turns away from her unconscious body, continuing towards her rendezvous point with Neros.

Yolanda wakes up, shaking her head and trying to clear it from the blearing headache and ringing in her ears. She forces herself to stand, looking up to see the smiling face of Neo. Neo had apparently protected her while she was unconscious, as several grimm bodies that had yet to fade completely were lying around. Yolanda smiles a little "Urania is stronger than I thought. I should of went all out from the word go, instead of testing her." Neo giggles and hugs Yolanda, who strokes her hair "Thank you for protecting me. Now that I have gathered all I need to know on Ruby's location, I will meet you in Minstral. I'll travel on the ground, and you can take the chopper." Neo salutes Yolanda and hurries off.


	11. Cornered

Seeing as how weak and pathetic Jaune was Yolanda would have assumed Jaune would of tucked his tail between his legs and fled for home. That was apparently not the case, as she watches the group leave the blacksmith's shop, Jaune carrying his new sword and shield. Yolanda watches the group as they leave town, leaping down from the trees and walking to the town inn. Ruby's group had at least one more day of travel before they would reach the ambush point, so Yolanda could afford to catch some sleep, then she could speed ahead and catch up. No matter how much her body evolved to survive harsher and harsher conditions, after the beating she received from Urania she would need to recuperate before another battle. She uses the money stored on her scroll to order a room and she collapses on the bed, falling to sleep instantly.

Urania sits next to Yang's bed, holding her hand and trying to channel as much healing aura into her as she could. Between her lack of training and her mental state, Yang was no match for Yolanda. For that matter, Yolanda went down far too easy in their fight against each other, which worried Urania. Neros walks in with a glass of juice and a plate of pancakes "Yang, I made pancakes." (thank goodness Nora was not present for the creation of said pancakes).

Yang sits up and smiles "Thanks. Urania, I'm fine. Just a bit winded is all."

Urania nods and Crowe walks into the room "What did I miss while I was out scouting?"

Urania explains the situation and Crowe nods "I'll go save Ruby, you guys stay here."

Neros shakes his head "I'm going too, I owe that bitch for what she did to Yang."

Urania nods "And I don't want anything to happen to the team."

Yang forces herself to stand "And I need to protect my little sister."

Crowe looks at all three of them "Okay, you two I suppose. But Yang? Hell no. You stay right here."

Yang's eyes flash red "You are not going to stop me."

Crowe pulls out his scroll, sending a message on it. Yang frowns "Who is that?"

Crowe shrugs "Just James. Arranging a chopper for the four of us." All three children stare at him and he frowns "What?"

Neros narrows his eyes "James. You mean General James Ironwood."

Crowe looks at his scroll and then facepalms "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Damn it, I let the secret slip."

Neros goes wide eyed "He's alive?! How? We saw the news, Ironwood was killed by Yolanda."

Crowe shakes his head "Yolanda killed a body double. Ironwood suspected Yolanda as an enemy, and he couldn't risk what was left of his military force to try to prevent her from killing him, so he staged his death in order to continue operating in secret."

Crowe looks down at his scroll "Oh, James says he wants to help."

Yang cracks her knuckles "Fine by me. But I'm going to knock her cybernetic eye into her skull myself."

As the sun was setting Ruby looks around the destroyed town, frowning. Buildings were burnt, bodies lay everywhere. Suddenly, a shimmering image appears in front of them. Neo stands in front of them, leaning on her umbrella a little and smiling psychotically at the group in front of her. She was not in her usual garb, sporting military fatigues for one reason or another. Neo raises her umbrella and opens it, shocking team RNJR as a powerful light seems to emit from her. It was actually emitting from the chopper behind her, and with the group blinded the hacked synthetic trooper fires at the group with the bottom mounted minigun. Everyone leaps for cover behind the ruined buildings, Nora's aura talking a couple hits but not phasing her much. Neo folds her umbrella and leans against it heavily, creating an illusion to disguise an entire chopper was extremely taxing.

Ruby looks over at Jaune and Ren, who leapt behind cover together "That gun will chew us apart!"

Jaune nods "Ren, try to fire a few rounds into the cockpit. I'll boost you up!" Ren nods and Jaune crouches, shield help up. Ren leaps up and Jaune pushes him in the air. Ren spins in mid-air, his pistols sliding out of his sleeves. He fires several rounds at the window but it is predictable bulletproof. Ren runs from cover to cover to distract it, firing at it as Nora and Ruby took shots at it.

The chopper begins to slowly take off and Ruby groans "Once it's in the skies, there will be no safe place to hide!"

Nora grins "My turn, I have an idea!" Jaune nods and Nora runs across the gap from cover to cover, bullets pelting the ground and a few hitting her aura but not deterring her one bit. Nora springboards off of Jaune's shield, slamming her hammer into the front of the chopper through the cockpit window and she fires a grenade into the cockpit, blasting apart the synthetic soldier and completely destroying the inside of the cockpit irreparably. She lands on her feet and grins, shouldering her hammer and giggling "That went well."

Nora turns to Neo just as she attempts to slash at Nora with her umbrella. Ruby had already closed the distance and catches Neo's umbrella, grabbing it from her and kicking her back far. Jaune rushes towards Neo, as does Ren. They surround her and Neo sits up, looking at them and shrugging a little. Ruby picks her up by her collar, surprising everyone "Where is she! I want to know where Yolanda is!"

Neo smiles and tilts her head. Jaune puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder "Ruby. This anger isn't like you."

Ruby looks over at him "I want my team mate back! I don't want to think about the fact that she is out there, hurting people! I want to know how I can help her. I want back Yolanda…" Tears stream down her cheeks and Yolanda walks out from behind one of the ruined buildings. She wears black combat boots, black capris and an orange tank top, with a metal bracer on her wrists, her ankles, one around her waist and one around her neck. Lightning occasionally arcs between the bracers and Yolanda smiles "Hello Ruby."

Ruby turns to her "Why are doing all of this?"

Yolanda points to Jaune "I want him. And I'm taking him, whether you like it or not." She slides on a pair of fingerless gloves and cracks her knuckles, her body suddenly bulking up a little, her muscles gaining more definition.


	12. Yolanda's Battle

Ruby draws Crescent Rose, unfolding it and planting the tip into the ground, her arm in front of Jaune "You aren't taking Jaune anywhere."

Jaune nods and draws his sword and shield "Yeah, what she said!" Neo leaps to her feet and grabs Ruby in a chokehold, and Yolanda pulls out her handcannon. Ruby elbows Neo in the stomach and moves out of the way of Yolanda's shot, making the split second decision to push Neo the opposite direction and into Jaune to save her from the bullet. Yolanda fires a few shots at Ren, drawing her sidearm and firing at Nora with it. Both leap behind cover and Ren goes airborne, firing several rounds at Yolanda but not phasing her aura. As soon as he lands he leaps over her into the trees, using his agility to keep her distracted while Ruby recovers. Yolanda deflects a grenade from Nora's launcher with polarity and it hits the tree Ren is landing on. Ren lands on his feet gracefully and Yolanda leaps backwards to avoid Ruby's scythe swinging at her from behind. She lands on her feet and uses her handcannon to block Nora's overhead hammer swing, dropping her sidearm and kicking Nora in the gut, before punching her in the face hard.

Ren yells out "Nora!" opening fire on Nora's attacker. Yolanda tosses Nora aside and turns to Ren, who's weapons slide back into his long sleeved shirt. He hits Yolanda with several rapid strikes, hitting her with a palm strike to the chest that causes her to slide back several feet. Yolanda stays standing though, smiling "Come on Ren, it isn't like you to lose your composure." As clouds roll in overhead, the first few drops of rain begin to fall on the battlefield. Ren leaps at Yolanda, going for an axe kick which she blocks with both arms crossed overhead. The ground cracks under her when she blocks it, and he leaps back from her, landing on his feet just in time to dodge her sudden rushing punch, sweeping her legs out from under her. Yolanda lands on her hands and front flips, spinning in mid-air and landing on her feet.

Ruby fires several rounds from her sniper rifle at Yolanda who is hit by the first round, but dodges the second round my mere inches and the third round grazes her cheek.

"Little Ruby, are you actually trying to kill me?!" Yolanda smirks, knowing that she could play with Ruby's mind if she goaded her enough. The rain begins to pick up and Ruby walks towards her slowly, scythe dragging through the ground behind her.

"You said it yourself. You told me the next time we saw each other we would no longer be friends."

Yolanda folds her arms "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting this much cold indifference from you. You are a far cry stronger than your sister. She was a pitiful mess the last time I saw her."

Ruby's eyes widened "Yang? You… you didn't!"

Yolanda draws her handcannon, loading explosive rounds into it "And what if I did?" Ruby rushes right at her and Yolanda fires a round at the ground between them, and before anyone can react she closes the distance between her and Ruby, Yolanda's electrically charged fist breaking through the smoke punching Ruby in the gut hard. Ruby leans against Yolanda weakly and Yolanda grabs her by the throat and tosses her aside unceremoniously.

Jaune runs towards Ruby "Ruby!" He pulls her up onto his lap "Ruby. Say something."

She opens her eyes weakly "Whatever happens. Don't leave with her."

Jaune nods and lays Ruby down, standing "I won't let you hurt anyone else."

Yolanda hangs her head and laughs "Oh no, Jaune Arc is here to stop me. Whatever shall I do?"

Jaune rushes right at her and goes for an overhead sword swing, which she blocks with her arm brace. She goes for a punch to Jaune's gut and his aura glows a bright white, her arm nearly breaking on contact, a few of her knuckles dislocating. Yolanda takes a few steps back, forced to leap back to dodge Jaune's sword swing. Jaune charges towards her, forcing her to duck and dip to avoid his sword swings as he aggressively pursues her. His sword tip slashes across her upper chest just below her neck and cuts one of her tank top straps. Yolanda attempts to punch him in the face and her fist connects but she ends up hurting her hand more. Jaune glares at her "What was that supposed to be?!"

She grabs his face, pouring her lightning into his aura and disrupting it, before kneeing him in the gut and kicking him back from her. She shakes her injured hand, growling "So that was a thing."

Ruby and Jaune were both out, Nora making it to her feet. That just left… Yolanda rolls to the side to avoid Ren's strike from behind, spinning and tripping Ren's legs out from under him. Ren leaps over her trip and rotates mid-air, firing at her. Yolanda covers her face with one hand and then uses her polarity to draw her sidearm to her, firing back at Ren. Ren takes a bullet to the leg and one grazes his side. Ren ducks behind cover, one bullet whizzing dangerously close to his head as he does.

Ren peeks up out of cover and Yolanda is gone. He stands, his eyes scanning the area slowly. He spins and uses the blade of his gun to deflect Yolanda's handcannon which was aiming at his head, simultaneously firing a few rounds into Yolanda's chest, one hitting her neck but bouncing off the metal band on her neck. Yolanda puts her hand to Ren's chest and fires an electric pulse that causes his heart to stop. Ren collapses on the ground and lightning arcs between clouds, letting off a flash of light and a roar of thunder that shakes the ground.

Nora watches Ren collapse and she cries out in rage "REN! NOO!" She drops to her knees, slamming her fists on the ground and causing cracks in the earth. As if sensing her distress, a lightning bolt strikes Nora and overcharges her aura. Nora stands slowly, glaring menacingly at Yolanda as she walks towards her, both fighters charged with lightning. As they throw punches at each other, neither seems to be gaining any ground, while Yolanda is more wounded than Nora she is using Yang's aura to make up the difference in strength. Yolanda doesn't bother blocking any of Nora's strikes, and Nora doesn't block any of Yolanda's strikes. Their power rises higher and higher as they draw power from each other, both able to continuously produce lightning.

Nora catches Yolanda's fist, squeezing it hard and trying to completely break her already injured hand. Yolanda swings her other fist and Nora catches it as well. They lock hands, pusheing against each other and fighting for dominance. Nora surprisingly begins to overpower Yolanda, forcing her to one knee. Yolanda growls "How… how are you this strong?" Nora looks over her shoulder, looking at Ren as Ruby tries to use CPR to revive him.

"I will do whatever I have to do to protect the ones I love!" Nora's body lets off pulses of electricity and Yolanda tries for one final push, generating as much lightning as her body can handle. Nora yells out in anger and Yolanda's bracers all break simultaneously, Nora kicking her in the chest, knocking her through several trees. Nora rushes to Ren's side, putting a hand to his chest "Ren! Ren, say something!" Ruby frowns and Nora slaps her hand down on his chest, the electrical current kickstarting his heart.

Ren coughs several times, smiling faintly "Just five more minutes?"

Nora giggles and cries tears of joy, hugging Ren against her. Ren gasps for air "Nora… I need air!"

She releases him and stands slowly, looking in the direction of the felled trees "I guess it's over."

Jaune runs towards Nora and he yells out "Get down!" Jaune throws himself in front of Nora, shield up, just as the explosive round hits his shield and sends him flying. He had spotted her drawing her weapons to her using her polarity, and nearly broke his shield arm protecting them from the blast. His sword falls to the ground and Yolanda's red eye becomes visible as she walks out through the trees, drawing the sword to her with her polarity. She smiles at Ruby who rushes at her, attempting to overwhelm Yolanda with a flurry of scythe swings.

"I hate you! I can't believe you turned your back on everyone and everything!" Yolanda deflects her scythe and leaps up in the air, firing a few rounds at Ruby which she dodges. Yolanda uses shadow clones and Ruby's speed to overwhelm Ruby and hit her with several sword swings, but Yolanda's attacks do not seem to phase Ruby's aura.

Yolanda takes a step back "How are my strikes not hurting you?"

Ruby smiles "You just aren't paying close enough attention. You are not able to see me subtly move out of the way of each attack. Just like you can't see that what you are doing is wrong!"

Yolanda catches her breath, slowly backing away from Ruby. A chopper circles overhead and Yang leaps out of it, running towards Ruby "Sis! I'm here to help!" Yolanda points her gun at Ruby's head and Yang stops dead in her tracks. Urania, Neros, Crowe and Ironwood run over, Yolanda staring at him with genuine surprise.

"Father. You're alive." He nods and she smiles "One more step and I blow off her head."

Ruby giggles "Do it. I dare you."

Yolanda grins and pulls the trigger, the gun clicks and she realizes what Ruby already knew. Ruby grabs her gun arm and pulls her into a hard elbow to her face. Yolanda smacks Ruby across the face with her gun and knocks her down, kicking her in the side and knocking her into a tree. Yang's aura explodes and she rushes at Yolanda, using her Ember Celica and her incredible strength to hit Yolanda with several rapid punches to the gut, blasting her up in the air with an uppercut. She fires at the ground to propel herself just above Yolanda, then fires behind her to gain momentum and punches Yolanda into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Yang hits her with several more shots to the face, howling in rage "Don't ever touch my sister. Don't touch her! I will protect my sister from you, you thug!"

Neros pulls Yang off of Yolanda, forced to put her in a full nelson to restrain her. Yang's aura returns to normal and Yolanda stands weakly, walking towards the group. She walks right up to her father, punching him in the stomach several times, but her punches are so weak it barely phases him. "Bastard…" He pulls her into a hug and she nearly passes out, but has enough strength to push back from him.

She looks around at the whole group and Urania walks towards Yolanda "Yolanda. Everything is going to be okay now."

Yolanda mutters softly "Everything…" Urania puts a hand on her cheek and the electricity that pulses through Yolanda's head forces her into unconsciousness.


	13. Oops

Ironwood leans down, pulling some powerful cuffs from one of his pockets, these specific cuffs are not made of a metal material, and are sturdy enough to restrain anyone. Ironwood goes to cuff Yolanda and Urania puts a hand on his shoulder "It's okay. It's all over."

Ironwood shakes his head "I need to take her in before she wakes back up."

Urania shakes her head "I cured her. She will be back to her old self. It's my new semblance, when I fought her near Salem's hideout, I discovered the power to link to another person's mind."

Ironwood looks her in the eye "Are you sure?"

Yang nods "Worked for me."

Urania nods "I linked to her mind and I've helped her come to peace with everything that happened to her. But we really need to all get somewhere warm before we all catch a cold. Is everyone okay?" Yang walks over carrying Ruby on her shoulders and Nora slings Ren over her shoulder despite his protests.

"Nora, I can walk. You don't have to carry me like a sack of potatoes." Jaune limps over and smiles at the group.

"So, everyone is still alive. Good deal."

Yang nods "Well, you guys don't look like you are well enough to continue forward. We could go in your place."

Ruby shakes her head "I'm going to sleep this off." Crowe chuckles "Sleeping off that kind of beating? That's gonna be one hell of a hangover."

Ruby giggles, sticking her tongue out at her uncle "Thanks for coming to help Uncle Crowe. Nice timing."

Crowe smirks "I would have been here sooner, but Ironwood took too damn long with the chopper."

Ironwood folds his arms "You act like procuring one of the few choppers left in my fleet is something I can do with a flick of my wrist."

Yang sets down Ruby and Ruby hugs Crowe, before pulling out her scroll "According to our map, we are closing in on another town. We could make it on foot, no problem. Ren… Jaune. I hate to say this, but you guys took a heavy beating. If you would prefer…"

Jaune sighs "I want to continue with you. But I'm hurt badly. I don't want to weigh you guys down. I'll head back with Crowe to recover."

Ren sighs "I will return, under one condition. Ruby, you cannot proceed alone."

Yang puts an arm around Ruby's neck, grinning "I'll protect her. It'll be a blast."

Ruby smiles "You're you again!"

Yang nods "Damn right!"

Nora hugs Ren gently "I'm going back with you."

Ren shakes his head "Ruby will need your strength if they are to continue forward."

Neros steps forward "That won't be needed. It'll be me, Urania and Yang. That's a dream team right there."

Yang tilts her head "Team YURN?"

Ruby frowns "Like, to want something?"

Yang nods "Yeah, exactly."

Ruby nods a little "Well, I want peace. So I suppose it makes sense. Besides the only other combination I could come up with was RUNY."

Yang shakes her head "Leave the cool names and puns to a punfessional." She looks around at the blank stares of her teammates and Neros groans loudly, making Yang sigh "Come on, it wasn't that bad. I'm shocked you didn't like it."

Nora nearly collapses, doubled over from a sudden fit of laughter. As the rain tapers off and the clouds disperse, the group stands around, laughing not so much at Yang's pun, but more or less from relief, and of course Nora's crazy and slightly obnoxious snorting laugh.

Ruby walks over to Yolanda "I'm going to take her with us."

Yang tilts her head "Are you sure?"

Ruby nods a little "When she wakes up, she's going to be a monumental help."

Urania nods "Besides, Yolanda should go with the group with the strongest fighters to contain her if she goes crazy."

They look at her and she shrugs "Hey, I said I cured her, but that doesn't mean it was a perfect transition. Cut me some slack."

Ruby takes a step towards Ironwood "Yeah, I think we are going to need those cuffs. Just to be safe."

Ironwood hands them to her and she pockets them. Neros walks over and slings Yolanda over his shoulder, turning to Ruby "Lead the way."

Yang folds her arms "What about me?"

Neros tilts his head "I'm pretty sure Ruby is running the show right now."

Ruby gasps suddenly "Neo! Has anyone seen her?"

Ren shakes his head "We were so wrapped up in our fight with Yolanda that we completely forgot about her." Neo walks out of the shadows towards Neros and places a soft kiss on Yolanda's forehead, walking over to Ironwood and holding out her hands. Ironwood stares at her in shock before cuffing her. She turns to Ruby and gives her a small salute before everyone boards the chopper and they fly off, leaving team YURN and an unconscious Yolanda alone.

Ruby scratches her head "Can never figure out that girl."

Yang shrugs "Whatever. Come on guys, let's get moving. It's super late and I'm hungry."

Ruby giggles "Why didn't you eat before you left the house?"

Yang folds her arms "I did. And now I am hungry. Deal with it."

After settling down at the inn, Yang carried Yolanda to her room and laid her in bed, cuffing one of her hands to the wooden bedpost. The team ate together then settled in for the night. The whole team is woke up by Ruby's frantic yelling. She bursts into Yang's room "Yang! Yolanda got away!"

Yang sits up "Impossible! Those cuffs are supposed to be strong enough to contain any aura user."

Ruby nods a little with a 'no duh' look on her face "Yeah well the headboard wasn't."

Yang looks down "Ohhh…"

Urania and Neros run into the hall behind Ruby and she turns to them "Search the town, see if she is still here. Urania, can you track her?"

Urania shakes her head "Would it be weird if I said no?"

Ruby yells out frantically "Yeah, pretty weird, considering you can track any other person from practically hundreds of yards."

Urania scrunches her nose "Nope. I've got nothing."

Ruby's jaw drops "Crap. How is that possible?"

Urania shrugs "I dunno. She's vanished off my radar. But this all seems strange. I could of swore that the treatment worked. She should be completely sane. I should of helped her reconcile with her demons, she should be herself again."

Yang is the first to rush out the door. Ruby follows slowly after. Neros looks over at Urania "I'm sure it worked. I want to believe there is something else going on here. But Yolanda is too dangerous to let run around loose. This time, if it comes down to it, you realize you will have to kill her."

Urania nods, knowing that she was the most likely candidate to be able to kill Yolanda. But if Yolanda could mask her movements and hide from Urania, this would mean that Yolanda would rob her of her one advantage in a fight, being able to sense her opponents movements. Without this precognition, Yolanda would make short work of her.


	14. Reconciliation

Yolanda hums softly as she works, running the edge of the blade along the grinding wheel. Sparks fly off the grinding wheel and Yolanda holds the blade at eye level, smiling at the finely honed blade. She runs her finger along the edge and nods a little when it cuts her finger "Nice and sharp. I like it." She takes an oily cloth and begins to clean the blade, then her scroll rings. Yolanda pulls out her scroll and sees its her dad, so she puts him on speaker. "Hello dad."

James lets out a long sigh "Hello Yolanda. It's been a while since we properly spoke. I want to apologize for being too wrapped up in my work to realize what was happening."

Yolanda begins to take apart her handcannon, cleaning the parts "Dad, it's not your fault. I should of got help."

After a long pause, James speaks again "I'm just glad that things can start getting back to normal. Losing you in this way was actually worse than the prospect of you dying. It hurt me deeply to see the lengths you would go to in order to achieve any goal. Which leads me to the question: what was your end game?"

Yolanda sighs "To be honest dad, I wanted to be strong enough that no one could ever hurt me again. And I starting seeing everyone around me as too weak to help me and an obstacle in my way. I wanted Cinder to pay so badly, that I figured my friends and teammates would inevitably get in my way of my ultimate goal, and that going solo to obtain power would be my best bet."

James sighs deeply "Sweetheart… I…"

Yolanda groans "Dad, I know. Urania helped me see the error of my ways. But, I need a favor from you."

He seems to brighten a little "What is it dear?"

She pauses, considering it for a few seconds, then blurts out "I need Neo released from prison… please?"

His tone becomes angry "Absolutely not! Why would I even consider that?"

Yolanda sighs and she strums her fingers on the table. "Daddy. I need her. A lot more than you may think."

James growls a little "Absolutely not, that's a very huge favor. You need to earn back your trust before you make demands that large."

Yolanda chuckles a little "First of all, Neo could escape any time she wanted to, but she turned herself over to you willingly when I was beaten. Because I told her to. So, with her presuming me dead she will eventually get bored and escape. If she leaves she's going to spread chaos everywhere. But I can keep her on a leash… so to speak." And literally, she mutters to herself. "Second… I keep having these reoccurring nightmares. And Neo is the only one who can help me when I have these nightmares."

James sighs deeply, then lets out a groan. After a long pause he sighs "Fine. But under one condition."

Yolanda practically squeals with joy "Anything."

James chuckles "Alright, I'm sending an officer with her to monitor you both."

Yolanda giggles "That's all? Deal!" He sighs "I think I'm going to regret this. Love you dear."

She smiles wide "Love you daddy." She hands up her scroll.

Ruby accidently pushes open the door of the blacksmith's shop and stumbles inside, tripping over a tool on the floor and falling on the floor face first. She looks up at Yolanda "You. Saw. Nothing."

Yolanda folds her arms "That depends. How much did you hear?"

Ruby stands quickly "Oh, this and that." She looks down sheepishly.

Yolanda shrugs "I was going to need to address the group anyway."

Ruby calls the whole team and explains the false alarm, and they all meet up at the inn for breakfast. Yang sits next to Neros, Urania next to Yolanda and Ruby at the head of the table. All eyes turn towards Yolanda and she sets down her fork, sighing "Alright guys, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do."

Yang chews on a piece of bacon "Damn right you do!"

Yolanda sighs "Well, after my beating and subsequent torture at the hands of Cinder; by the way nice job on messing up her face Rubes."

Ruby smiles sheepishly, blushing and looking down "Thanks."

Yolanda turns back towards Yang "Anyway, after I returned to the school I had a horrible nightmare. I was in constant pain, and I… began to consider suicide. As I am a stubborn individual by nature, I kept it all to myself and kept smiling. Then the White Fang attacked, I lost my eye, and the recuperation process was soul draining. I became more and more aware of the fact that I was the only person I could rely on, and that in order to never suffer the same pain I had suffered, I was going to need to grow much stronger. I killed my father to disrupt the military, so that my search for the Spring Maiden would go uninterrupted."

Ruby nods a little "Now it makes sense. Wait why did you need Jaune?"

Yolanda giggles "Because I can't have the Spring Maiden's powers."

Ruby tilts her head "Well yeah I figured that. Ozpin says Maidens chose themselves."

Yolanda shakes her head "That's not why. It's because the Spring Maiden isn't a Maiden at all. It's a guy." (headcannon)

Ruby stares at her "Are you sure?" Yolanda gives Ruby her best 'are you serious' look and Ruby shrugs "I mean, it's just, this is a serious piece of info to take in."

Yolanda nods "I'm surprised it wasn't in my father's dossier, though I suppose that's understandable, the less info on file for the Maidens, the harder they are to locate if there is an information leak."

Ruby nods "So, what's our next step?"

Yolanda frowns "Well, I need to go find Ozpin once my father comes through with his promise to release Neo. Then, perhaps I can work on reuniting the team. After we take down Cinder, we will need to work on cleaning up the grimm."

Ruby looks down, as does the rest of the group. Yolanda frowns "What's wrong?"

Yang taps the table a little "Well, Ozpin died fighting Cinder."

Yolanda tilts her head "No he's not. Who told you that?"

Ruby sits up straighter "You know something we don't?"

Yolanda nods "Uh, yeah. Like the fact that Ozpin is not dead. I know that for a fact."

Urania raises her hand "Excuse me, but can I ask something?"

Yolanda giggles "We aren't in school anymore, you don't have to raise your hand."

Urania folds her arms "Explain to me how you hid from me earlier."

Yolanda frowns "Oh, yeah I turn my aura off when I'm working on my weapons."

Urania shakes her head "That's not possible. You can't shut off your aura. It's a natural mechanism." Yolanda folds her arms "You can if you are awesome like me. It's all about absolute control. Maybe I'll teach you one day."

Ruby stands "Can we get back to the 'Ozpin isn't actually dead' subject real quick?"

Yolanda shrugs "I have no idea where he is hiding, but I know he isn't dead, because I have sensed him tracking me a time or two. He was the reason I moved around a lot. The idea of facing Ozpin was a frightening idea."

Yolanda looks to the group "I've done horrible things to all of you since I became… not myself. So, I appreciate the second chance to make up for my past wrongdoings."

She stands from the table "I'll be upstairs in my room if anyone needs me. Oh, and sorry about the headboard, I had a nightmare."

The group sets out on the road together, Yolanda tailing the pack. She keeps her senses on high alert as they move out into unsettled territory. The level of grimm in these untamed areas was surprisingly low. After many hours of trekking, day soon begins to shift into night. Yolanda stops, making the group stop and turn to her, Yang stopping what she is saying mid-sentence. From the trees comes a maniacal laughter, sending a shiver down all of their spines. Everyone draws their weapons and prepares for a fight. There is a rustling in the trees, and Yolanda faintly makes out the figure as he darts between trees. He leaps from one side of the dirt road to the other, dropping a note as he leaped over their heads. He vanishes without a trace, laughing like a madman as he scurried away.

Yolanda catches the note and opens it. Ruby frowns "What does it say?" Yolanda sighs and looks up at her "An eye for an eye."


	15. A Matter of Principal

**Welcome all of my loyal supporters. I tentatively post this new chapter here. Thank you for reading my works, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. PM me with ideas and collaborations. I'll be happy to work with fresh ideas.**

Emerald hides behind Mercury as Adam Taurus enters the room. Salem frowns over at Emerald, then shrugs and looks over at her invited guest. "Adam. I require a favor. I had someone I needed you to track and bring back to me."

Adam stops, turning back towards the door "Retrieval is not something I am good at. I'm more inclined towards killing my targets rather than capturing them."

Salem chuckles a little, smiling "I'm well aware. But her power is far beyond the abilities of an average fighter. Besides, I don't need her in one piece. Just alive. I wish to use her for an experiment."

Adam looks back over at her, sighing "I get to maim her? Very well. Hopefully she can survive without an arm or a leg."

Salem smiles "Oh, I'm sure she will live long enough for me to do what I have planned for her." Adam nods "Who is my target, and where can I find her?"

Salem slides him a picture "This is Yolanda Ironwood. I was content to allow her to live while she was still a rogue element, but she is now with Ruby and is aiding her. Together with the rest of Ruby's gang, they could become quite strong, so I'm not going to take any chances with her."

Adam pockets the picture and nods solemnly "I will return." He marches out the door and Salem sighs contently "Oh, I know you will. And I know you will not fail me."

Yolanda walks at the back of the pack, excited as they near the town where she would be meeting up with Neo. They were perhaps a few hundred yards from the town when they heard screams to their south. Ruby gasps "Sounds like a village is under attack."

Yolanda nods a little "You guys run ahead. I'll get Neo and our personal little guard, and we will come to help." Ruby shakes her head "There is no time, why don't you call them on your scroll?"

Yolanda holds it up "No service." Ruby slumps her shoulders "Figures!"

Neros puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder "We should be strong enough to take care of whatever force may be threatening the village, or we should at least be strong enough to hold it at bay until backup arrives."

Ruby nods "Alright team YURN, lets go!" They cut through the forest and Yolanda runs along the path, sprinting towards the village, and the girl awaiting her at the town. Yolanda skids to a stop when she senses an especially powerful aura. She frowns, the aura seemingly surrounding her in all directions. She draws her sword and Adam walks out from between the trees, smiling. "I love how easy it was to fool all of you."

Yolanda smirks "That so? You're the fool, you can't possibly intend to fight me." Adam rushes right at her and draws his sword. When their swords connect the shockwave causes a few of the weak trees to fall over. Yolanda glares into his eyes, kicking Adam back from her. They exchange sword slashes for a few seconds, metal clashing with metal over and over again. Sparks fly up in the air and Yolanda smiles "You're not bad, I'll admit that much." Adam goes for a rapid series of sword slashes, and Yolanda deflects all of them but one, which cuts open her shirt and leaves a small slash on her stomach. She leaps back from him "Very well, I will stop holding back."

Electricity pulses through the blade and she spins in place, swinging the blade and letting off a horizontal slash of electrical energy. Adam blocks it with his blade and his blade absorbs the energy. She frowns and rushes towards him, using Ruby's semblance to circle behind him. He takes off his sword sheath, using it to block her attempted strike from behind, spinning and swinging his blade at her. She leaps back as his blade comes inches from her neck. She uses her polarity to disarm Adam, flinging his sword into a nearby tree and it gets stuck in the bark.

Yolanda leaps at him, attempting to slash him several times. He dodges her blade easily, then steps in and elbows her in the chest, breaking her left arm (her sword arm) and disarming her, catching the blade out of mid-air and spinning to face her. He puts the blade to her throat and she smirks "Nice turnaround. I'm impressed."

Adam lowers the blade to her chest, pointing it at her heart "You're coming with me." She sighs "Afraid not." She goes to swing at him and he thrusts forward, shattering her illusion. She appears around him, at least a dozen in total. His senses were betraying him, he knew she couldn't be everywhere at once. They had mentioned she could make illusions and she could also create temporary clones, but he wasn't prepared for their sudden assault. Despite not being solid, every hit still registers pain in his mind. He growls, frustrated that she is toying with his mind. He begins to carve through her many illusions and clones, dashing at the one he thinks is the real one and cutting it in half vertically. This one shatters as well and she dashes towards him, clutching his sword "Checkmate!"

Adam blocks with her sword, then with a simple movement of his wrist he knocks the sword out of her grasp and into the air. He slashes open her chest, then kicks her back into a tree. He tosses aside her sword and catches his, thrusting his sword towards her. She holds out her hand to stop it, once the blade pierces her hand she moves it to the side to avoid being impaled in the stomach. She tries to draw her sword to her using her polarity, but Adam begins to punch her in the face repeatedly, breaking her overtaxed aura.

As he rains fists down upon her face, chest and body, the back of her head constantly hits the tree trunk, over and over. Once he is satisfied that she is beaten to near death he pulls his sword out of her hand and allows her to collapse to the ground. She spits blood and chuckles a little. He looks down at her "What's so funny?"

"We showed contempt and hatred when we should of shown love and compassion." She slumps over to one side, sighing. She forces herself to sit back up "We were foolish, like children."

Adam folds his arms "Foolish is a word for it." Her breathing becomes labored and she grunts in pain "When I was a child, I always fought with my dad. You see, I would sneak off to go to the White Fang rallies."

This gets Adam's attention, who looks over at her. He takes off his mask but she cannot make out his face, her vision too blurry. "I would sneak out, and I would be at every protest I could attend. I wanted everyone to be equal. I wanted peace. I wanted us to all be able to go to school together, without everyone having to be in separate rooms or separate schools. I didn't want to see all of the video of the peaceful protests being broken apart anymore. I hoped that, as a human, if I spoke on behalf of Faunus kind, I could help other humans see reason."

Adam growls "You were wrong." Yolanda nods "But, aren't we all? In order to try to attain peace, you have started a war."

Adam draws his blade "Conflict is integral to human nature." Yolanda laughs "That's a damn cop out and you know it. Now we couldn't stop this war even if we wanted to, and you opened the gates for a far more dangerous threat to claim all of our lives. You are as foolish a man as my father is." She sighs "But that's not why I am telling you this story. There was a rabbit Faunus. Her name was Topaz. We… were at every rally together. She was like a sister to me. The sister I never had. I wonder if she remembers me. I wonder if she is still with the White Fang. When your people maimed and nearly killed my brother, I became so angry at everyone around me. My father for helping start this war, however pure his intentions may have been. You, for sparking the violence that led to all of the killings. And myself."

Adam slips back on his mask, sighing "You don't have to be angry anymore." His blade sings through the air and everything goes dark. Ruby ran towards the sound of the fighting, but was too far away to get there in time. As she sprints out of the woods she watches Yolanda's final moments as Adam's blade slices right through her neck and the tree behind her. Crimson sprays everywhere and Ruby goes wide eyed, unable to comprehend what is happening. Adam sheathes his sword and turns to Ruby.

Ruby drops to her knees "You… killed her… why?" He shrugs "It was a matter of principal." He leaps into the trees and leaves the frozen and speechless Ruby alone to mourn the loss of a teammate who she had just won back from the darkness that had taken hold of her heart. She yells out in anguish and slams her fists down, crying.

Back at the White Fang hideout, Adam walks slowly to one of the members, a rabbit Faunus. He pulls her into a room, off to the side "Topaz." She nods to him respectfully and he pulls out the picture of Yolanda "You knew her." Topaz nods "When we were kids, yeah."

Adam draws his blade, wiping it off with the picture and shows her the blood stained picture. Topaz lets a tear slip and she shudders "She's gone? You killed her?"

Adam nods "Sorry. It was a matter of principal."

Salem stares across at Adam, her hands held together in front of her face "Now, Adam, I would like for you to explain to me why you came back empty handed." He shrugs "I killed her. She put up a stronger fight than I anticipated, so in the heat of the moment I killed her. I told you, I'm an assassin."

She nods "Quite. Very well. I suppose accidents do happen." She sighs "I suppose I owe you some form of payment. I'll get that payment to you in due time. Keep in touch."

He nods "Yeah. I'll stay within reach. If you need someone killed, contact me. Don't send me on retrieval missions." He leaves and she sighs "Poor boy. She won him over with her words, and he killed her as a mercy." Cinder gasps something to Emerald and Emerald turns to Salem "If… uh if he betrayed you, how can he be trusted?"

Salem smiles "Come now, his slip up in judgement does not constitute as a total failure. I can experiment on him instead."


	16. Neo's new purpose

**Hello fans. I'm sure you are all happy to see a new chapter posted. I am happy to work on this story, and glad to see it is gaining a following and that people enjoy it. I can feel Rwby Volume 4 gaining momentum, and the battle against Tyrian will be something special. I actually cannot wait to see what he can do. In the meantime, here is more of my fanfic for your enjoyment.**

Ruby gasps, waking up suddenly with no recollection of falling asleep. She was on a very soft bed, tucked in gingerly. She sits up slowly, trying to recall the last thing she remembered before passing out. Suddenly, an image becomes burned into her mind, an image of crimson droplets spraying everywhere as Adam ended the life of her friend. Ruby leaps out of bed, her legs becoming tangled in her blankets and she stumbles. Neros opens the door just in time to catch Ruby and she headbutts him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Neros falls to the floor and Ruby on top of him, but she scrambles back to her feet.

Neros smiles "Ruby, your awake." She nods "So… Yolanda…" Neros nods solemnly "Sadly, yes, that actually did happen. Nora, Ren and Jaune are here. As is Neo and Captain Helios."

Ruby frowns "Helios… Helios. Sounds familiar." Neros purses his lips "Captain Helios is Genivieve's father. Was… Genivieve's father." Ruby nods a little "Oh. Does General Ironwood know about his daughter?" Neros nods and sighs deeply "He came by chopper to retrieve the body, then he saluted me and flew off. He's going to make sure she gets an honorable funeral, despite everything."

Ruby hears yelling outside and goes on high alert, rushing into her room. Neros grabs her by the shoulder "It's okay, Yang and Nora are just sparring." Ruby raises an eyebrow "The two strongest women we know are sparring, and that's not a cause for alarm? Are they being supervised?"

Neros nods "Jaune is watching them to make sure it doesn't get out of hand." Ruby gives him her best 'are you serious look and Neros puts up his hands defensively "I figured he could handle it, jeez get off my case would ya?" Ruby hurries outside, just in time to see Nora and Yang's right fists connect. Yang pulls back her right, swinging forward her left and their fists clash again. They headbutt each other and stumble back from each other, Yang's eyes turning red. Yang dashes in close to Nora and Nora deflects her left hook, but is caught by Yang's right body uppercut, stunning Nora long enough for Yang to grab her by her arm, turning her back to Nora and preparing to hip toss her to the ground. Nora overpowers Yang at the last second, grabbing her in a chokehold.

Nora laughs and grins mischievously "Tap out Yang!" Yang struggles "Never!" Yang elbows her in the side, grabbing her arm and throwing her to the ground, putting Nora in an armbar. She presses her knee into Nora's side "Tap out Nora!" Nora struggles "Never!" She growls and squirms in Yang's grasp, and Ruby walks over "Okay ladies, break it up." Yang's eyes return to their usual lilac, and she releases Nora "Well Nora, too bad we didn't get to see a decisive winner this time. Maybe next time."

Ruby grins "I'm just glad you guys fought without your weapons. You could of destroyed half the town without realizing it if you were armed." Nora giggles "Yeah, but we aren't that foolish, come on Ruby I'm waay smarter than that." Yang shrugs "Besides, let's leave the serious fighting for when we see the bad guys." Ruby sees movement out of the corner of her eye and sees Neo, leaning against a tree and watching the group with mild interest. She has her umbrella unfolded and is using it as shade, Yolanda's sword strapped to her hip. She doesn't wear her usual non-cholant look, or her psychotic grin. She seemed… sad.

Ruby walks closer to her "Hey Neo. I'm sorry about Yolanda." Neo glances over at Ruby, then turns her attention towards the village and she lets out a deep, sad sigh. Ruby puts a hand on her shoulder and Neo stares into her eyes, smiling wearily. She folds her umbrella and walks past Ruby, standing next to Neros and everyone's attention turns to Ruby. It took her a few seconds to realize that they were expecting words of encouragement from their fearless leader.

Ruby smiles "You all know I'm not the best at speeches." They all chuckle or laugh, with the exception of Neo. "But, our friends are watching us now, and they will rest peacefully once the threat to our peaceful existence is over. We will find a way to restore peace, and one day, we will all live together in harmony, as equals. On my honor, as a huntress, this is a promise I make to everyone who has died. I will do whatever it takes to restore peace." She puts her closed fist to her chest, over her heart, as a single tear slips down her cheek. A gruff voice clears his throat behind her "A beautiful speech, Miss Rose."

Ruby turns to see a tall man with a dark tan complexion, brown hair that was slicked back and green eyes. He was well built, with a grey tank top and black jeans. He was shouldering a fishing pole, which had a large fish hanging from it. Ruby smiles "You must be General Helios." She holds out her hand to him and he shakes it, his soft yet firm hands shocking Ruby. He grins "You can call me Reggie, all my buddies do." Jaune grins "Is that short for Reginald?" Reggie glares at him menacingly "As a matter of a fact, it is. But I prefer Reggie." Jaune steps behind Nora "Yes sir."

Reggie turns back to Ruby, immediately all smiles again "Ordinarily, I would take charge of an operation this important, but my job is to ensure Neo here doesn't kill all of you in your sleep, and plus Ironwood strictly forbade me from ordering you munchkins around, he said you can handle it." He ruffles her hair, walking towards the inn "Who wants fish? Owner of the inn said if I could catch it, he would prepare it for free."

Yang holds her growling stomach "I'm super hungry. I could probably eat that whole fish myself." Reggie takes it off the line and tosses her the pole "Then go get your own, I'm only sharing half the fish. After all, I did all the work to get it. River is 2 miles that way." Yang sulks in the direction of where he pointed. Ruby glances over at Neo, who gives her a small smile before turning to Jaune, tapping his shoulder lightly. He turns to her "What?" She draws Yolanda's sword and Jaune goes wide eyed "No funny business." He draws his own and she rolls her eyes, then gets in a swordwielding stance. Jaune narrows his eyes. "Your stance is terri- oh, you need me to teach you how to swordfight. I guess since you are so used to using an umbrella, this is weird for you, huh?" Neo nods and Jaune grins "Okay, after breakfast though, alright?" Neo nods and sheathes the blade.

After breakfast, Jaune and Neo stand out in front of the inn, exchanging strikes with their wooden swords. Reggie was very against them using real blades, and even insisted on searching Neo for any other weapons before they could spar. A few villagers gathered around, watching Neo and Jaune as they swung at each other. Neo uses a twist of her wrist to deflect his swing and he shakes his head "That's no good. You keep falling back on a fencing discipline. A sword of that weight will break your wrist if you try to use it like a fencing sword. Fluid, quick movements. You have to move your body with your swings, so that you can maximize the amount of power you put into each swing."

Neo nods and goes for a spinning slash, their wooden swords connecting. Neo spins on the spot, forcing Jaune to stumble forward but he spins around and puts up his sword to defend himself, their swords connecting again. Jaune forces Neo back, going for an uppercut swing. When their swords clash he knocks her sword from her grasp and she growls. He smiles "That's enough training for today, don't you think?" Reggie walks over, handing Jaune his sword and shield "If you wouldn't mind, I would like a turn. Neo can observe a real duel, and learn by example."

Jaune grins "A sword wielder?" Reggie folds his arms "Not just a sword wielder. I use a shield as well, that has a shotgun built into it." Yang smirks "That sounds awesome." Reggie grins and cracks his knuckles "Damn right it's awesome." He runs inside, grabbing his sword and shield. A larger crowd has gathered, the first two fights causing rumors to spread. By this point, most of the town has shown up to watch the exhibition match between Reggie and Jaune.

Jaune and Reggie exchange sword swings, metal clashing against metal. Reggie keeps pace with Jaune easily, showing his years of experience off by easily countering every one of Jaune's attacks. Jaune goes for a thrust and Reggie sidesteps to avoid it, elbowing Jaune in the face. Jaune goes reeling from the hit, and when Reggie sees that Jaune's nose is broke he goes wide eyed "Keep your barrier up, kid."

Jaune sighs "I… can't. I don't have much of an aura, or a semblance that I can maintain." Reggie chuckles "Nonsense. You just need to have more faith in yourself Jaune." He rushes at Jaune and goes for a thrust, which Jaune parries aside with his shield. Reggie slams his shield against Jaune's and knocks him to the ground. Jaune rolls to his feet and their swords clash, throwing off sparks. Jaune is steadily forced back by Reggie, but then he manages to force Reggie's sword swing downward, his blade sticking into the dirt. Jaune kicks him in the sword arm, then bashes Reggie in the head with his shield, sending Reggie reeling. Reggie brushes himself off, smiling "That was a clever little trick. You see, all the military training in the world, and you managed to beat me. That says something about your skills kid."

Jaune grins wide "I guess it does. Thanks Reggie." Reggie pulls his sword out of the dirt "It's a good thing I found out early that you can't use your aura. I almost shot you." Jaune chuckles nervously "That would of sucked." They all laugh and Jaune frowns "I won, why do I feel like I lost?" Reggie pats him on the shoulder "It's not a big deal kiddo, you will be a great swordsman one day, with or without a strong aura."

Ruby was sitting next to her sister at dinner when Reggie suddenly stood up, walking over to Ruby. He leans down, whispering in her ear softly "Come with me." Ruby nods and follows Reggie to another room. His lighthearted demeanor was gone, he folds his arms to show that he is serious. Ruby frowns "Is something the matter sir?"

He nods a little "Yes, it is. Adam Taurus, I understand it, is responsible for the deaths of both my daughter and Ironwood's daughter." Ruby nods and he sighs "I don't know where to find him, but I at least want to know how strong he is. What few field reports we have don't seem to give us a clear indication of the level of power he possesses." Ruby frowns "That's hard to judge, though Yolanda took on myself, Ren, Nora and Jaune in a 4 on one fight. And this was only a day after she fought Neros and Yang, and then lost a fight to Urania. Not to mention the fact that Yolanda might have beat all four of us, had the rest of the group not shown up. She actually killed Ren, who was revived by Nora. And Adam took her down, by himself I'm assuming."

Reggie goes wide eyed "That's a scary thought, that Nora girl is powerful. And I know all about your accolades as a fighter. If Adam could take her, if he could so easily overtax her aura which persevered through that much use, he is probably very strong." Ruby frowns "I don't know that for sure. When they fought, Yolanda was still recovering from our battle. We… should of never split." Reggie puts a hand on her shoulder "Now is not the time for that. We have more pressing concerns. I will most likely split off with Neo, when the time comes, and confront Adam myself. I'm sure Neo has plenty of reason to want him dead as well."

Ruby nods "I think they loved each other. I wonder if Neo will ever speak…" Reggie sighs "I don't know. Unlikely. Freaking basketcase." Ruby goes wide eyed and Reggie goes wide eyed as well "Woah. Did I say that out loud?" Neo cracks the door open a little "You did." Ruby stares over at her and she gives Reggie a psychotic smile before slamming the door shut behind her.


	17. Coming to Grips with Fear

**A very short chapter, giving us a glimpse into the mind of the last hope for Remnant. That's a lot of pressure. How could it be affecting her mental state?**

Ruby runs through the woods, as the trees around her begin to ooze blood, the sky turning dark and red eyes following her everywhere she went. This nightmare always seemed to find her every time she closed her eyes. She taps into her semblance, her cloak twisting around her as she dashes through the trees, a Beowolf running at impossible speeds to catch up to her. She fell to the ground and braced herself for the end of her dream, as the Beowolf stalked closer to her.

The wolf growls at her, taking its time to close in on her, then it speaks "You are a weak, pathetic little girl with no way of defeating-" The form of the grimm shifts to look like Cinder "Me."

Ruby forces herself to stand "I can, and I will defeat you!" She runs towards Cinder and Cinder punches her in the face, knocking her down into the dirt. Cinder laughs manically, holding her arms out wide. "You hit me with all you had once, and yet I am still alive. You should give up!" Cinder launches a fireball at Ruby and Ruby closes her eyes. When the blast doesn't hit she tentatively opens them to see Pyrrha standing over her, using her shield to protect Ruby. Yolanda leaps out of the woods and punches Cinder into a tree, then several thin blades with Penny's emblem on them impale her to the tree.

Ruby smiles at all three of them as Penny walks out of the woods to join them, the scenery slowly shifting from the dark and sinister nightmare realm to a more normal environment. Penny salutes Ruby "Salutations friend Ruby!"

Ruby looks at all of them "Okay, I know I am dreaming now, but are you guys spirits or something?" Yolanda shakes her head "No, more like the metaphysical representation of the three things your mind is trying hardest to hold on to."

Penny salutes her again "Innocence."

Yolanda folds her arms "Strength of will."

Pyrrha puts a hand on her shoulder "Hope."

Ruby nods "I'm going insane, aren't I?" Yolanda nods and Pyrrha growls at her, before turning back to Ruby and smiling at her sweetly "Ruby, you have gone through more than anyone, let alone anyone your age, should have to go through. But you're strong. I know this, because I am a part of you. I am the strongest part of you." Yolanda clears her throat and Pyrrha turns to her "Not. Helping."

Ruby tilts her head "I can't believe I am giving myself a pep talk." Penny smiles "We have come to help you remember the three most important things that make you, you. The way you always see the good in people."

Yolanda smiles "The way you never back down from a fight, and you always get back up, no matter what."

Pyrrha pulls her into a one armed hug "The way you always inspire hope in others. How you always look for the light shining in the darkness. Your very aura inspires hope, hope for a brighter future."

Ruby smiles and nods "Thank you guys. I miss you all."

They put their closed fists over their heart and say in unison "We will always be here."

Urania stands slowly, allowing Ruby her last few hours of sleep before sunrise. Freeing Ruby from her night terrors was extremely taxing, and with only a few hours left until the gang would be heading out, Urania needed what little bit of time she could get. But, before she went to bed, she felt her curiosity peaking when she heard the snoring of Neo in the room next door. Getting a peek into her mind could be very enlightening, or very dangerous. In either case, it would have to wait. Urania was far too tired to attempt a trip into the mute's brain.


	18. New Discoveries, Same Heartbreak

**Hello everyone. A chapter to tie up loose ends with the childhood friend of Yolanda. because everything happens for a reason. The fight with Tyrian is approaching soon. I already wrote part of it, but I'm going to keep adding to it and ironing it out until I feel that I've done the fight justice. I retract my prior statement about being excited about the fight with Tyrian... it was underwhelming. Next chapter, we shall be exploring the mind of a psychopath!**

Topaz looks around Menagerie, taking in the beautiful island landscape. She sighs softly, setting down her duffle bag and taking in her surroundings. She was wearing her White Fang robes still, but it was her only pair of clothing that should could grab. She didn't have family here, and she didn't know anyone outside the White Fang. She had only one option. She was going to need to visit the former leader of the White Fang and ask him for help.

Topaz knocks on the large wooden door, trying her best to gather her nerves. Topaz was surprised when Ghira answered the door. He was a huge, intimidating man, and Topaz shrank back a little. He frowns "Did the White Fang send you to speak to me about something? After the enlightening meeting we had earlier, I would have believed our business was done, at least for the day."

Topaz picks at her fingernails "Well, you see… I was… Hello sir." She looks up at him hopefully and his expression softens. "Come on then, say what you need to say. I'm not going to hurt you." Topaz looks up at him "I left the White Fang, but I'm afraid Adam may get angry at me for leaving. You see, he killed someone who ment quite a lot to me when I was a kid. I've never been out there on the field. I didn't know it was this bad!" She begins to sob and speak incoherently, so Ghira pulls her into a hug "It's alright. Why don't you come inside and have some tea?"

As Ghira and Kali sit with the rabbit Faunus at the small table, she sips her tea and keeps her head down. Blake walks into the room, and when she sees Topaz she folds her arms "What is a member of the White Fang doing here? Dad, I thought we already talked about this." Topaz sets down her cup and hangs her head; Ghira puts a hand on her shoulder "This is Topaz, and she is a guest. But that does bring up an interesting point. Topaz, why are you still wearing those horrible robes?"

Topaz looks up at him "It's the only set of clothes I have." He folds his arms "Well then, I will make sure to get you your own clothes tomorrow. Kali might have something your size you can wear in the meantime." Topaz shakes her head "You are already doing so much for me, I would hate to impose." Ghira folds his arms "If you do some work around town and help out, I will see to it you are taken care of, little miss."

Blake folds her arms "So what, you defected? Why should we trust you?" Topaz looks up at Blake, her eyes red and puffy from crying, tears streaming down her cheeks "I didn't know. So much violence, so much bloodshed. After Adam told me he killed her, I started to realize the rumors were true. We argued for hours. And then, he threatened to kill me." Blake folds her arms "So you never once went out with one of their raiding parties? You never watched the White Fang troops as they shot up dust stores, broke into houses? You were not there when they turned Beacon into a graveyard?!" Topaz cries with her head in her hands "I was just a bodyguard, I didn't leave the headquarters, ever."

Blake kneels down and gets in her face "I think your lying! I think you are an assassin, or a spy." Topaz begins to bawl louder, her body racked with sobs. Kali puts an arm around her and Ghira grabs Blake by the color of her shirt, pulling her back to her feet "Blake Belladonna, that's quite enough. You need to stop harassing this poor girl!" Blake growls and knocks his arm away "I don't buy her nonsense for a second."

Topaz slowly begins to regain her composure as Kali comforts her, but when she looks up at Blake she begins to sob again "First Adam kills Yolanda, now this… is anywhere safe?" Blake goes wide eyed "Adam killed who?"

Topaz begins to cry harder and Blake pulls Topaz to her feet by the v neck of her robes, yelling in her face "Yolanda who?!" Topaz cries out in fear and tries to pull herself out of Blake's iron grip, Ghira and Kali grabbing Blake by her arms. Blake tries to shake them off, hissing at Topaz "Yolanda who?!" Topaz strangles on her own sobs and then shouts out "Ironwood! Yolanda Ironwood!" Blake goes wide eyed, releasing her grip on Topaz and Topaz collapses to the floor. Ghira and Kali were trying so hard to pry Blake away from Topaz that when she suddenly froze up they ended up falling onto the floor in a heap.

Blake stares up at the ceiling, her mind trying to process the death of her former teammate. So many feelings were mixing around inside her. Not being there to witness Yolanda's betrayal, Blake had only positive memories of her partner and friend Yolanda. Maybe she was wrong to leave. It was her fault that Yolanda was dead, if she had never left… Blake sits up, staring blankly as she tried to will herself to move. Even as her father and mother tried to get her to stand, she couldn't move. Another life that Adam had ended. Another life she could of saved. But it would be the last.

Weiss stood at the front of the crowd as the casket was slowly lowered into the ground. There was a large stone dedicated to the many lives lost at Beacon, but Yolanda would get her own grave. The memorial service was long, with many people who served under James or were family friends speaking words on Yolanda's behalf. When asked to take the stage, Weiss pulled out the speech she had prepared. As she shuffled through the cards, her mind shuffled through the memories she shared with her teammate. All the silly moments, the dance… Weiss sets the cards down, and she sings a high note, the whole crowds eyes now fixed on her.

"Mirror, tell me something,

Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Mirror, tell me something,

Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Fear of what's inside of me;

Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?

Save me from the things I see!

I can keep it from the world,

Why won't you let me hide from me?

Mirror, mirror, tell me something,

Who's the loneliest of all?"

Everyone begins to clap and Weiss turns from the stage "I'm the loneliest of all…" She walks towards the Beacon memorial, putting her hand on the memorial and tracing a few names that she knew that were carved into the stone. She brushes her hand over Genivieve's name, when a familiar perky voice breaks her out of her reverie "Salutations friend Weiss! Do you know where Ruby is at? I would like to say hello to her."

Weiss turns around, staring at the girl in front of her, wide eyed and open mouthed "Penny?!"


	19. Tyrian flirts with Death

**So, I may come back to exploring Neo's mind at a later date, but for now, a brief encounter with Tyrian (not the last) and I also called in a housekeeper to take care of a mess. I love you, loyal viewers. You guys rock! I love feedback, both positive and negative (provided its intelligible) and the next chapter will explain Penny's presence at this point in the story.**

Jaune sighs "Okay, I have a question." Reggie looks up from the map "Shoot."

Jaune folds his arms "We have choppers, why are we not taking the choppers?" Reggie smirks "Easy. Because there are a lot of villages between here and our destination that need our help."

Jaune nods "That's a fair point, but why are we bothering to travel to Haven. Urania knows where Cinder and Salem are. She managed to track them."

Ruby sighs "Because Jaune, even if we managed to kill Salem, who's to say that would solve anything. Seriously, it's like if you cut off the head of a hydra."

Reggie shudders "If we run into one of those I'm holding you personally responsible young lady."

Tyrian had been stalking the group long enough. Once they made it into the next town, Tyrian was going to make his move. He would need to try to split them up. He chuckles to himself "Na, I think I can take them. It shouldn't be too challenging." He laughs and licks his lips as he eyes them through the trees. He had a bad habit of playing with his prey before he moved in for the kill, but this was his favorite part. Captain Helios would be the only real threat. The powerhouses would be easy enough to handle, and from there he would need to eliminate Ren and Ruby quickly. Neo was not even a concern in his mind.

Reggie stops the group, smiling back at them "Okay guys, it's time for us to split up. I'll be heading to the northern village of Quaid, with Yang, Neo, Neros and Urania. Ruby, you guys follow the path to the next village." Ruby frowns "Why are we splitting up? I thought…" Reggie folds his arms "We are splitting up. Trust me on this one." Ruby nods "Very well…" Yang glares at Reggie, but nods in agreement as the group splits up.

As Ruby's group enters the next town, they hear loud laughter from one of the roofs. Ruby looks up to see Tyrian, sharpening the blades strapped to his wrist against each other. His scorpion tail peeks over his shoulder and he smiles down at Ruby "Little Red, wasn't that Roman's favorite pet name for you? Yes, Little Red, Little Red. Are you lost? Maybe I-" He pulls down his eyelid and laughs "maybe _I_ can show you around." Ruby draws Crescent Rose "You have been the one who has been stalking us."

He grins "Ding ding ding, that correct. Now, you can come quietly, which would be boring. Or… I can cut you and your friends up, and drag what is left back to my goddess. Please, please choose option B." He licks his arm blade, then smirks down at Ruby, but her glare of determination gives him pause. She did not seem to be the least bit intimidated by him. Jaune draws his sword from his shield "Why did Reggie have us…" Ruby puts out her arm, hissing back at Jaune "Quiet." Tyrian leaps off the roof, landing in front of the group. Ruby is the first to rush at him, attempting several sweeping attacks with her scythe. Tyrian easily dips and leaps over each of her attacks, and she has to constantly move back from him to avoid Tyrian's close range attacks. Ruby uses her semblance to dart backwards, petals distracting Tyrian long enough for Ren to close the distance.

Ren uses the blades on his pistols to deflect each one of Tyrians slashing attacks as Tyrian spins his body. Ren blocks Tyrian's spinning kick with his arm, but Ren's arm goes numb and he drops his pistol. Ren somersaults to avoid Tyrian's tail and Nora tries to uppercut Tyrian with her hammer. Tyrian leaps onto her hammer, and her swing sends him airborne. Tyrian spins in the air and tries to axe kick Nora, but Jaune pushes her aside, shield up to deflect Tyrian's kick. Tyrian leaps off of Jaune's shield with enough force to push Jaune back and he stumbles, falling on his back. He quickly rolls to his feet to avoid Tyrian's downward strike with his tail, and Tyrian turns in time to deflect Ruby's scythe swing, kicking Ruby back. Ruby fires several rounds at Tyrian, and he leaps onto the roof of a building and runs along it, avoiding her sniper fire.

Tyrian smiles down at Ruby as she reloads, folding his arms "Well, I'm breaking a good sweat, how about you guys?" Nora growls in anger and Ren puts a hand on her shoulder "Ignore him. He's patronizing us, but in truth, his agility is the only reason he is still alive. If we begin to attack recklessly, we will only leave openings for him to exploit. If we continue at a steady pace, he will tire out, and we will overtake him." Nora nods a little and Jaune smirks "In that case, we should do one on one fights with him instead of attacking him as a group."

Ruby nods and runs towards Tyrian, firing behind her and propelling herself towards him. She tries to cleave him vertically with her scythe, but it gets stuck in the roof and Tyrian hits her with a hard spinning kick, knocking her to the ground. Jaune runs forward and protects Ruby from his diving attack. Tyrian slams into the shield and pushes off of it, rushing at Jaune and leaping over him. Jaune spins and raises his shield, stopping Tyrian's tail with his shield and then forcing it aside, leaving Tyrian open. Jaune goes for a thrust attack but Tyrian spins and deflects his sword with his arm blade, slashing Jaune across the back as he stumbles forward.

Ren leaps in front of Tyrian, palm extended outward. He motions for Tyrian to attack and Tyrian lunges at Ren. Ren uses his arm to deflect each of Tyrian's slash attempts with his blades, his aura holding up well and deflecting them away. Tyrian goes for a spinning roundhouse, and when Ren ducks this he keeps spinning, aiming his follow up kick at Ren's side. Ren deflects it and Tyrian reverses his momentum, spinning the opposite direction. Ren forcefully deflects his foot, throwing Tyrian off balance and he strikes Tyrian in the chest with his palm.

Tyrian's feet leave the ground and he skids to a stop, holding his chest and struggling to catch his breath. Reggie walks out of the woods, followed by the rest of the gang. Reggie walks over next to Ruby and grins "I'm impressed at your team. They did well to handle Tyrian so easily."

Tyrian smiles "So what happens now?" Reggie folds his arms and smirks "We will see, now won't we?"

A woman with a thin, lithe frame, black hair and a black combat dress walks out of the woods. Her black glove on her good hand had metal plates around the wrist, and an emerald encrusted gold band just below the elbow. She has a blindfold on, but seems to move easily as she walks over towards Tyrian. Tyrian goes wide eyed, then begins to laugh hysterically, rushing to her and kneeling at her feet "Mother! Oh Mother I am so happy you came! I would love to watch you work. You have been in self imposed exile for sooo long." As she draws closer, they notice her unnaturally pale complexion and the way her right arm looked like it had been burned, red cracks in the skin pulsing with energy.

She pets Tyrian with her good hand, smiling down at him. Her voice is sultry and seductive, despite her aura giving off a menacing feel "I'm here to deal with these heathens, my little pet." She curtsies to Ruby's gang "They call me Lady Death, or Mother Death. Now, send unto me your strongest, and send unto me your fastest fighter." Yang steps forward but Helios holds her back with his shield "I'll take her." He looks over at the advancing Ruby "Alone, if you wouldn't mind Miss Rose."

Death reaches into the pouch strapped to her back and she pulls out a black mask that she secures onto her face. The mask covers her mouth and nose, and essentially renders her unable to smell, canceling out another of her five senses. The metal mask does not possess airholes, confusing all of the onlookers. She puts her right foot forward, her right arm out palm first and her left arm slowly drawing a dagger that she has strapped to her back. Helios approaches her cautiously, circling her. She turns her head his direction, without moving her body. Helios rushes right at her from the side and she waits until the last second to react, parrying his sword with her dagger and kicking off of his shield, almost knocking him over. She lands on her feet in a crouching position, her body facing towards Helios. He moves much faster this time, pushing off the ground so hard that it cracks under him as he closes the distance.

Death bends backwards to avoid his horizontal slash, ducking under his sword and it takes a few strands of her hair. She snaps back to an upright position and kicks Helios in the back, making him stumble. He chuckles "You are just playing with me so far. How irritating." He walks towards her and he swings his sword down at her, which she deflects with her dagger, but he forces her to deflect him to her right, which left her open. Helios bashes her back with his shield then raises it, firing a shot from the double barrel fixed to the underside of the shield. Death puts her right arm up to protect her face and her burnt looking arm is blown apart by the force of the shot, though her aura held up on her chest where some of the shrapnel hit. She walks towards him, not faltering despite losing an arm, and dashes past him so fast he barely registers her movement.

Helios instinctively spins around with his shield at the ready and he manages to smack her dagger out of her hands with his shield, Death leaping back and avoiding the slash of his sword. He fires another shot at her, which she cartwheels to avoid. Helios chuckles "You are missing an arm, and you are outmatched. Surrender is your best option at this point." Death crouches low as she moves over and picks up her dagger, moving towards Helios casually. Helios swings at her with his sword which she deflects aside, and then she blocks his counterattack with his shield with her knee, throwing her dagger right at Yang. Helios turns his attention to Yang, and Death punches Helios in the jaw, smacks his shield away and then black dust forms down from her right shoulder and her right arm regrows, her forearm nothing more than a sharpened stake which she uses to impale him through the stomach.

Helios collapses to the ground, coughing up blood. Death takes off the mask over her mouth "Who is next?" Ruby takes a step forward, but Ren stands in front of her "I'll face her. I know exactly how to counter her."

Death freezes in place, then chuckles "You should know plenty about my movements, I would suppose." She reaches back, untying the blindfold and she lets it fall to the ground. Two pairs of pink eyes meet, making Ren hesitate and go wide eyed "Mother." Ren's mother smiles "It's been far too long Ren."


	20. Surprise!

**Salutations readers. Here is a very short chapter explaining Penny's reemergence in my story.**

Penny salutes Weiss, smiling "Yep. So, did Ruby come to the funeral, or is she not here?" Weiss forces her mouth closed with her hand "Okay, before I tell you anything, you need to explain a few things." Penny tilts her head and her expression goes neutral "Like what?"

Weiss folds her arms "I heard that the power core that allowed you to generate an aura was one of a kind, and that it was destroyed when you shorted out completely, following your… death. And that the core couldn't be repaired, by any means." Penny holds up her finger "Wrong."

Weiss growls "Which part?" Penny opens her arms "All of it. Wait, no, just that last part. My core was one of two. I'm not sure if you knew this, but your former friend Yolanda had to be rebuilt using cybernetics." Weiss covers her mouth "Her body was damaged that badly?"

Penny nods "So damaged, she needed a cybernetic upgrade that would generate an aura because she was temporarily unable to generate her own. This certain part was not designed for humans. The core was meant for me. The one I was using was only a prototype."

Weiss taps her chin with her finger "So, they rebuild you, but can't make a new core for you, and your upgraded version is with Yolanda. Then she dies, they reclaim the core from her body, and now here you are." Penny nods "Yes, I knew that of everyone, you would be smart enough to understand. It was a little strange to some of the others. And there have been glitches." Penny clenches her left fist and mutters "I'm not a glitch…"

Weiss narrows her eyes "Penny, are you okay?" Penny nods and gives her a thumbs up "I'm combat ready!" She puts her index fingers together "Kind of."

Weiss sighs "What seems to be the problem?" Penny hangs her head "Okay, I'll tell you because I trust you." Penny grabs Weiss and drags her off against her will, behind a tree. The heiress resists at first, but Penny's grip is too strong. Penny gulps, and Weiss needs a second to remember Penny isn't human, despite her mannerisms pointing to the contrary.

"You see Weiss, being able to generate aura is something all beings with a soul can do. The artificial one I have gave me a soul, in a sense. So… when Yolanda had this core, and it became a part of her, her soul still lives inside it."

Weiss' eyes threaten to pop out of their sockets "You have Yolanda living inside of you?" Penny nods "In a sense. I can't let anyone else know, because… well, you know." Weiss knew about what Yolanda did, especially her attempt on her father's life. Weiss nods a little "So, is she, you know, angry? Evil?"

Penny frowns "She's been… difficult to get used to. I have had occasional dark thoughts. And I feel.. some emotions I am not able to explain or cope with. But, all in all, I am still mostly myself. And I have all of Yolanda's abilities."

Weiss folds her arms "Well, until you learn to control these new emotions, don't you think it's best if you stay with your creator, or whoever takes care of you?" Penny frowns "Why aren't you helping friend Ruby?" Weiss snorts, looking away from Penny "Returning home was not my idea. But at least here I can learn to master my glyphs so I can rejoin this battle and actually make a real difference."

Penny nods "Maybe you can help me master glyphs as well." Weiss narrows her eyes "What do you mean, help you… right, Yolanda's ability to copy other semblances." Penny smiles and nods "According to all of my data that she shared with me regarding the many semblances she had at her disposal, yours was one she could not use effectively in combat, due to how complicated it is."

Weiss smiles "Well, it takes a Schnee to really show you how to work it. Don't worry, I will help you master the basics in no time. At this point, I can summon glyphs in my sleep."


	21. A Brush with Death

**So, this chapter is dark and violent. Thanks for patiently awaiting the next chapter. And I hope to post more tomorrow.**

Ren sighs deeply, getting in his fighting stance and closing his eyes "You have pushed your body to new heights. But you forgot your own creed. Our style of fighting was designed for defense. You can't defeat me by trying to apply brute force into a style designed to defend and protect."

Death smiles and clamps the mask over her mouth, and then she pulls another blindfold from her pouch and ties it over her eyes. Ren smiles "You are muting your senses to improve your ability to sense aura. I didn't realize you had advanced so far. Good thing I have been training too."

Ren closes his eyes and blocks Death's right cross, deflecting her left jab and he kicks her in the gut. The onlookers watch as Ren and Death trade shots, countering blow for blow. Death pulls out her dagger and Ren grabs her wrist, kicking her legs out from under her and wrapping her arm around her own neck. She throws Ren to the ground, and he rolls to his feet quickly, drawing his pistols from his sleeves and firing at Death. She puts up her corrupted arm to block her face and Ren leaps right at her, kicking her arm and it breaks apart into dust, his kick connecting with her face and knocking her back.

Death flexes her fingers in her good hand, smiling as her other hand reforms. She puts her hands in front of her, in what looks like prayer, then several clones of Death form from the ground up, made of the same corrupted flesh as Death's right arm. Each one rushes at Ruby's group and they find themselves quickly overwhelmed. Ruby uses her agility to avoid the clone as it rushes towards her in a frenzy. When she fires a sniper round through the clone, the clone's head is blown in half but instantly reforms. Ruby leaps onto a tree limb and dashes backwards to avoid the clone, leaving behind petals "Everyone scatter!"

Yang throws a right punch, hitting the clone in the face. The clone barely recoils from her punch, then counters with a right of her own. With Yang stunned, she launches into a flurry of alternating body shots and head shots, unknowingly powering Yang. The clone knocks her back with a powerful kick, right into a tree. Yang opens her eyes, glaring at the clone with red eyes as her hair glows. She rushes right at the clone and it laces its right arm around her right arm and gets behind her, her left arm putting pressure on her shoulder blade as she pulls the arm back and dislocates it. Yang's cry of anguish is quickly silenced when the clone grabs her chin and cranes her head to one side, delivering a heavy chop to her exposed neck and knocking her unconscious.

Nora swings her hammer at the charging clone and it darts behind her, slashing at her with her fingers extended into claws. Nora's aura holds up, breaking the claws apart. She spins and smashes the clone apart, only for it to reform. Nora leaps back from the clone, and her hammer folds down into its grenade launcher form. When the clone rushes at her she kicks it back from her, firing a grenade right at it. The clone reforms from the blast quicker than the smoke could clear, and before Nora can react the clone has closed the distance, both arms formed into blades. She rams both blades into Nora's stomach and her aura doesn't hold up against the piercing blades, both blades puncturing her chest. The clone lofts Nora up on her blades like a trophy, and then her blades dissipate and Nora collapses to the ground.

Neros stands back to back with Urania "This isn't looking too good." Urania nods "Our… odds for survival are looking rather grimm." Neros sighs "Geez, not you too." Urania giggles "Just one pun, before I bite the big one." The two clones rush right at them, and Neros launches several crescent beams from his sword, cutting the clone into pieces, only for it to reform. Urania uses her staff to raise a wall of fire around herself and Neros. The clones leap through the fire and Urania holds it's leaping kick at bay with her staff, the other clone is blasted apart by Neros. Neros gasps for air "Hey, fire uses oxygen, or had you forgot?" Urania slams down her staff and the fire dies away "That didn't work anyway, so there is no point."

Neros folds his sword down, dodging and ducking out of the way of the clones repeated slashing attacks with its arm blades. Neros blocks one of its strikes, but its arm blade turns back into a normal hand, grasping the blade and it rips his sword right from his grasp and tosses it aside. The clone rams her bladed arm into his chest, grinning as he struggles for air. Urania turns to Neros, gasping "Neros! No!" The clone laughs, it's voice a demented, hissing, viscous version of the sultry voice of Death "That's it. Cling to life fruitlessly." Neros headbutts her as hard as he can, growling in anguish and rage. He forms energy in his metal glove, using his semblance to channel energy through his glove and blast her body apart. He collapses to the ground as she reforms, and Urania runs towards him "Neros!" The clone she was fighting puts her in a chokehold from behind.

Jaune fruitlessly swings at the clone while backing away, and it cackles at him each time his blade rends apart its form and then it reforms just as easily. His back touches the tree and he holds his shield at the ready "Come on then!" The clone leaps right at him and Jaune rolls to the side, the clone ramming head first into a hole in the side of the tree. Jaune slams his shield into its back, chuckling "And stay put!" The head breaks apart and it backs away from the tree, turning to him as its head reforms. It rushes right at him, punching him in the diaphragm and knocking him unconscious. As he crumples to the ground the clone rolls him over onto his back with her arm forming into a blade.

Ren and Death dodge each other's strikes while trying to land piercing strikes with their hands, their fingers pointed forward as they thrust towards each other at a rapid pace. Ren changes his right handed thrust into a chop at the last second, using his momentum to strike Death on her good arm, snapping the bone. He takes advantage of her stunned state to kick her in the chest as hard as he can, cracking several of her ribs. She lands on her feet, swooning a little and finding it hard to stay standing. She clutches her broken arm, stumbling towards him slowly. She wrenches off her mask, grinning "I'm impressed by your progress as a fighter. I only wish I had been able to take you under my wing, and train you to be a real man, who fights for a real cause, under a real god."

Ren spits on the ground, grinning over at her "You're not my mother, or any Mother of Death. You are just a walking reminder of why hunters and huntresses are important, you remind me of why we exist. You remind me of why I became a hunter. So that monstrosities like you can no longer hurt innocent people. And soon, you will be nothing more than a foot note. When all is said and done, the victor writes history. And whoever that victor is, whether it be Salem or us, either way you will be little more than a footnote."

Death screams and rushes right at him, and he knees her in the gut, kicks her in the face and then when her head snaps back from his hard kick he goes to hit her with a hard chop to her throat. She grabs his hand with her good arm, smirking as she clutches his wrist tightly, pulling him into her arm blade. Ren gasps, collapsing onto his hands and knees. She readies herself to deliver the final blow, when Neo walks over carrying Ruby's scythe.

She walks towards Death with a look of pure rage, slamming the scythe down with the blade facing upwards. She lets out a loud whistle and Death howls in pain, clutching her ears. Death rushes right at her, slashing at her with her arm blade and the illusion shatters. Neo reappears behind Death, Ruby's scythe curved around Death. Her momentum carries her right into the razor sharp edge and the clones vanish as the woman who claimed to be Death felt her life coming to a dark close. She smiles up at Neo as her body begins to turn into black dust, laughing as her body is consumed "You are a true killer."

Neo lays Ruby's scythe down and drops to one knee, and Ruby walks to her slowly. Of everyone, Ruby and Neo were in the best shape, Ruby sporting a few scrapes and Neo unharmed. Yang slowly limps over, the left half of her body appears to be paralyzed. Helios helps Ren to his feet, and Helios take sout his scroll "I'm going to see if they can give us a lift out of here."

Tyrian walks towards the group slowly "You… killed Mother Death. Heathen!" He edges towards the group and Ruby stands in front of them, scythe held at the ready. Tyrian rushes right towards her and Qrow leaps in front of Ruby, blocking Tyrian's tail strike with his sword. He smiles over his shoulder at Ruby "How's my favorite niece?" Qrow stays on the defensive as Tyrian pressures him with repeated sweeping and spinning strikes with his arm blades. Helios leaps over Qrow and behind Tyrian, spinning and smacking Tyrian down with his shield. As he holds his shield up and prepares to fire at Tyrian, Tyrian fires several shots from his wrist mounted barrels, and Helios manages to lower his shield in time to deflect most of the small arms fire.

Helios moves his shield from in front of his body, using his sword to deflect several of the bullets as Tyrian puts some distance between himself and his attackers. He leaps up onto a building and Helios fires a slug from his shield that blasts apart most of the roof, causing Tyrian to fall through. He barges outside through the front door, sprinting at Helios and attempting to hit him with his tail several times. Helios deflects with his sword, preparing to fire with his shield, when Tyrian leaps into the air and Helios fires right at Qrow, who was in the middle of preparing to impale Tyrian from behind.

Qrow is blasted back into the same building that Helios shot apart, the crumbling structure collapsing. Tyrian grabs up Death's dagger, dashing right towards Helios. He pretends to thrust with the dagger, releasing it mid-thrust and brings his left arm up in an uppercut instead, catching Helios off guard and slashing right through his armor, leaving a deep gash from his already injured stomach to his left shoulder. Neo runs right at Tyrian, Yolanda's sword held high as she goes for an overhead swing. Tyrian blocks her sword with his tail and fires all four wrist mounted barrels at her chest, but the illusion shatters and he feels a searing pain as his tail is severed completely off. He leaps away from Neo as she prepares to land the finishing blow, leaping away to safety.


	22. Wounded and Deserted

Qrow limps over towards the group and Helios growls "Sorry about that." Qrow shrugs "It happens. Actually, that was more my fault than anything else." Helios chuckles "I shoot you and it's somehow your fault?"

Qrow sits on the ground leaning against a tree "That's what happens when you have a semblance that gives everyone around you bad luck." Helios leans against a tree, coughing up black blood and he gasps for air "That woman did a number on me."

Ruby frowns "Everyone is hurt. Can we call Ironwood to pick us up? We won't make it to the next town." Qrow nods "Good idea." Qrow pulls out his scroll.

Weiss raises her sword high and a sigil appears on the floor, and from this sigil rises the knight. Weiss celebrates this too soon, as the moment she breaks her concentration it breaks apart like it was made of glass. She sighs deeply, taking a few seconds to catch her breath before reforming the sigil. Penny knocks on her bedroom window "Weiss!" Weiss drops her sword and nearly jumps out of her socks "Penny!"

Penny nods "Yep!" Weiss stares at Penny "Penny. My bedroom isn't on the ground floor." Penny smiles "Can you let me in?" Weiss nods a little and she opens one side of the window. Penny leaps in the room and stumbles a little, falling on Weiss' bed. She leaps back to her feet and salutes Weiss "Salutations friend Weiss."

Weiss puts a finger to her lips "Penny, keep it down a little. You are trespassing right now." Penny nods a little and Weiss sighs "What did you need?" Penny draws one of her swords and smiles "I've come to train with you on summoning glyphs. Also I figured we would get on our way and catch up with Ruby. It will take a few days, but I can move without rest."

Weiss growls "Well, you might as well go by yourself. My father forbade me from leaving." Penny giggles "Okay, then I'll break you out. Or, we can take the easier option. Maybe Ironwood could help." Weiss smiles, a finger to her chin "I'm listening."

A few hours later, James walks into the Schnee household with an escort of soldiers. Weiss' father runs over towards Ironwood "Ironwood, what is the meaning of this?" Ironwood sighs and pulls out a warrant "This is a warrant for the arrest of Ms. Weiss Schnee. And before you ask, yes, this is about her attempted murder of the woman from the fundraiser."

He goes wide eyed "We had an agreement…" Ironwood grins "Yes, well when the woman decided to press charges, that deal became null and void. You are not above the law." He watches Ironwood march into Weiss' room, completely speechless. Weiss screams out as Ironwood grabs her by her arm, half dragging her out of the house. Penny follows Ironwood and they get in the chopper together. Ironwood smiles over at Weiss "I wasn't too rough, was I?" Weiss smirks "Please, I may be a woman but I'm not some dainty princess."

Penny frowns "What about your fortune?" Weiss folds her arms "I was struck from the inheritance. I'm no longer the heiress to the Schnee dust company. As far as my family is concerned, I'm not a Schnee. I'm just a troublemaker."

Weiss turns when she hears a familiar voice behind her "Way to prove them right, Ice Queen." Weiss smiles wide "Blake." Blake gives her a small smile "It's good to get the family back together. We have Yolanda here in spirit, and we are going to be reuniting with Ruby. Kinda wish I never left to be honest."

Weiss folds her arms "Oh come on, we all know you ran away so you could read in peace." Blake smiles a little, pulling out a book from her backpack.

Ironwood pulls out his scroll as it rings "It's Qrow." He answers it "Yeah? Wow, that's rough. Yeah we are on our way to you. I brought backup… we will be-" A blast hits the side of the chopper and blasts apart most of the right side.

As everyone comes to, Penny uses her robotic strength to move aside the rubble of the chopper, pulling out a wounded Weiss and a severely wounded Ironwood. Not even a minute after Penny drags them all to safety, the remains of the burning chopper explodes. Penny frowns over at the burning wreckage "So… we won't be fixing that."

Ironwood holds his injured side, growling "This isn't good. Ruby said most of her group is injured and they may still be in danger. Now we are days away from their location with no transport. Anyone's scroll functioning?" Blake pulls her scroll from her coat "Looks like we don't get signal out here."

Penny nods "In that case, I'm going to run ahead and help Ruby. I'm a robot, I don't need rest." Ironwood nods "There is also another concern. Whatever shot us down is still here." Penny salutes "Good luck team. I'll make sure friend Ruby gets to Mistral safe."


End file.
